Under the Roses
by Bassomatic
Summary: Ed and Al return to Resembool after finding the Philosopher's Stone and getting their original bodies back. Al tries to play matchmaker, and won't take no for an answer. EdxWinry fluff, with just a hint of RoyxRiza. COMPLETE.
1. Homecoming

**Edit: Sorry! Formatting! Gahhh! It got better!**

**CHAPTER ONE: HOMECOMING

* * *

**

Winry Rockbell blinked sleepily as the sun shone through her bedroom window and hit her eyelids, waking her immediately. She rolled over and buried her head in her pillow; some days she just didn't want to get out of bed. She'd had a late night last night, and was still tired. As she was lying there, however, something occurred to her. The house felt different. She sat up, and sniffed the air a bit.

_It smells like . . . boys._ She thought sleepily. This thought floated around inside her head for a moment before it clicked, and her eyes widened in realization. _Ed and Al!_ She was surprised that she still knew what they smelled like - it had, after all, been around two years since she'd seen them last.

Without bothering to get dressed, or comb her hair, or anything, Winry jumped out of bed and flung herself out of her bedroom door. She ran down the hallway, and into the first guest room – or she tried to run into the first guest room, but instead of running into the room as she had intended, she ran into someone who was leaving the room, and fell backwards.

"Oof!" She found herself sitting on the ground, staring up at a very bemused Edward Elric. "Ed!" She cried happily, getting to her feet, "It's so good to see you!" She started to give him a hug, but then, thinking of something, she suddenly pulled away and surveyed him warily.

"You're not here because something happened to your automail again, are you?" She asked, remembering in regret that her wrench was still in her room. She would have to go get it to hit him with. He smiled broadly - the first genuine smile she had seen on his face in a long time. He held out his arm.

"See for yourself!" He said brightly. Winry wasted no time in pulling his glove off and found that there would be no need to repair his automail today, or, in fact, ever again.

He no longer had any.

In its place was a real human arm; a mirror image of his left one. For a long moment, all Winry could do was stare from his arm, to his face, which was now glowing with happiness, and back again, as tears of joy clouded her vision.

_They wanted this more than anything_, she thought, _and now they finally have it. They can finally stop searching._ And a tiny, selfish part of her added, _they don't have to go away anymore. They can stay here with me and Auntie. _This thought alone caused her tears to flow freely, and she promptly seized the collar of Ed's coat and sobbed into his shirt. The emotions that she was feeling at the moment were just too much for her right then. Ed patted her on the back awkwardly, but didn't move away, as she had half-expected him to. She couldn't remember the last time she had been this close to Ed – or rather, the last time he had let her get this close. And as she stood there, crying into the front of his shirt, she had to admit to herself that she felt . . . safe. It was as if, while she was thee, nothing could hurt her, and it was ok to cry. She also realized that she was able to stand upright and cry directly into his chest. He had had a growth spurt while he was gone.

"Winry, what's wrong?" He asked, "I thought you'd be happy for me and Al." Winry moved away and wiped her eyes. And grinned at him through the last remaining tears.

"I am happy! I'm so happy for you and - Al! Is he-?" Ed nodded, the broad grin back in place.

"Yeah; first thing I did when we found it." Winry seized his hand (the right one) and pulled him along with her as she ran into the next room; the only other guest room in the house.

When they walked in, Winry could see right away that Al was human. And asleep. He was buried under a large pile of blankets on the bed, obviously still tired from whatever he had gone through to get his original body back. Winry considered just leaving and letting him sleep, but quickly dismissed the thought; he could take a nap later – she wanted to see him _now. _

"Al! Al wake up!" She called, letting go of Ed's hand and pulling back the covers of the bed. She gasped in surprise when she saw him - she still had the mental image of him as a chubby little boy in her mind whenever she thought of him as a human. This Al was rather skinny - of course, since he probably hadn't had a decent meal in around seven years - and quite a bit bigger than he had been back then. He stirred slightly, before sitting up and looking at her.

"Winry?" He said, and blinked. Winry smiled and sat down on the bed next to him, and promptly hugged him tightly. He paused a moment, and then hugged her back.

"Umm, Winry?" he said after several minutes, "Are you gonna let me go anytime soon? I'd like to get dressed." Reluctantly, she let him go. She hadn't given him a hug for seven years - she wanted to make up for lost time. Granted, she hadn't hugged Ed in the same amount of time - maybe longer, as he had never been a particularly physical person - but it wasn't the same. Al gathered his clothes, and grinned wickedly at Ed before entering the bathroom to change.

"If you want, you can cuddle brother while I'm gone." He suggested innocently, "Like a sort of stand in. One Elric's good as the other, right?" With these as parting words, he disappeared through the doors. Once he left, Winry looked down at herself, and realized that she was still clad in her pajamas - a large t-shirt that reached to the middle of her thighs. Thinking that she might as well change too, she got up, and was surprised when Ed stepped back, a blush staining his cheeks.

"He didn't really mean it, you know." He said hastily, and Winry laughed.

"Relax. Ed. I'm just going to go get dressed." She said as she walked towards the door. Just to upset him, she gave him a quick hug before leaving, giggling to herself when he emitted a sort of surprised squawk. "I'm really, really glad you guys got your bodies back." She said, before letting him go and leaving the room. Ed sighed, rolled his eyes, and sat down to wait for Al.

* * *

"You two picked the perfect time to show up," Winry said as they walked through town later that day, "You're just in time for our annual spring carnival." Ed gave her a puzzled look. 

"I don't remember any spring carnival." He told her.

"You wouldn't. It's only been held for the past five years or so. It's a lot of fun - I'm glad you guys will get to go this year." She laughed, and pinched Al's cheek, "Though I probably won't get to see you too much - all of the girls will want to dance with you." Al turned bright red.

"Naah," he said, "I'm not nearly as handsome as big brother is!" Winry hid a smile; no matter how old they got, is never ceased to amuse her how much Al worshipped his big brother. She wondered if Ed noticed it as well. She glanced over at Ed, who was looking into a shop window, serious as always. Winry's brow furrowed a bit in confusion as she surveyed him; she genuinely thought of Al as handsome, probably because he was suddenly all grown up. But Ed had grown up too, and somehow, whether because he was just Ed, or because she had always been too busy focusing on his automail, she had missed it. In place of the small boy she had known and loved was a much bigger boy. A very good-looking one.

She felt her face grow hot when she realized that she was actually thinking of Ed as handsome. Before she could stop it, an even more embarrassing thought popped into her head - _I wonder if he thinks I'm pretty?_ She pushed the thought from her head and turned back to Al.

"You're every bit as handsome as Ed." She assured him, "And girls will be climbing all over the both of you." Al grinned - several years as a suit of armor had caused a decline in his self-esteem, and so Winry felt that it was her duty to give it a boost whenever possible.

"Don't worry, Winry; I'll save you a dance, and so will nii-san, right big brother?" Ed turned towards him, and it was evident that he hadn't been listening to their conversation

"What was that, Al?"

"I told Winry that we'd both dance with her at the carnival," Al informed him, and again there was a mischievous gleam in his eye that suggested that Al was not so innocent as he pretended to be. Winry had missed it before, but she caught it this time and resolved to talk to Al about it as soon as possible. She didn't want him harboring the notion that anything would ever happen between her and Ed, after all. Ed glared at one of the fliers that was tacked to a light post.

"I'm not going." He said, "Dancing is stupid and girls are annoying. All they ever do is giggle." Winry glared, and he at least had the grace to look ashamed, adding, "Well, not you, I guess. You're more like a guy, really."

"Ugh!" Winry exclaimed in disgust. She turned on her heel and began walking down the street, leaving a confused Ed and a snickering Al in her wake.

"What did I do?" Ed asked his brother. "That was a compliment!" All rolled his eyes.

"Not to her, it wasn't. Girls like to be told they're pretty, not that they're like guys. You should go find her and tell her how pretty you think she is, and then maybe she'll forgive you." Al suggested. Ed would trust Al with his life, but there was something in his little brother's eyes just then that made him a bit wary.

"But I don't -"

"Liar! How could you not think Winry's pretty?" Al accused, "Everyone else does. I saw at least half a dozen boys staring at her just on the walk over here." He said. Ed's face reddened. Did he think Winry was pretty? He supposed she looked good enough, as far as girls went. Well, no; she was actually better looking than most girls in Risembool. She had very soft -looking hair -- he'd never actually touched it, but he'd wanted to -- and her eyes were a very beautiful shade of blue. And he certainly had no objections to the short skirts she often wore...

"If I told her that, she might get the wrong idea." Ed said. Al shook his head vehemently.

"No she won't. She just told me that she thought we were both handsome, and I didn't take it the wrong way." Ed chose not to comment on this.

"Yeah, all right." He said finally, "But I'll write her a note. An apologetic one."

"Good idea. I'll help you with it." The gleam in his eyes was back again, and Ed wondered exactly what Al would want him to write in the note. "Come on; let's go back. Maybe you can slip it in her room before she ever gets home."

* * *

It was, in fact, a while before Winry got around to going back. For quite some time, she just walked around. She wasn't even really mad about what he had said – it was Ed, after all; tactless incarnate. She couldn't really explain what was bothering her. It was just… there. And she wanted it gone. 

She was so caught up in her thoughts as she walked around, that she didn't notice when someone walked out of a shop at the same moment she walked past. The result was that, for the second time that day, Winry found herself sitting suddenly on the floor, looking up at a blonde young man. Unlike Ed, however, he immediately apologized profusely and offered her a hand. She accepted it, and he helped her to her feet.

"It's my fault, really," She insisted, "I wasn't watching where I was going." He shook his head.

"No, no, It's my fault; I should have seen you while I was walking out of the store. I'm terribly sorry about this. My name is George, by the way." He held out his hand, and she shook it.

"I'm Winry," She said, "Winry Rockbell." He grinned.

"The automail mechanic?" He asked, and she nodded. "That's fascinating. I've always thought that automail was art; I mean, the way it fits together! It's like magic." Winry only nodded. Who was this guy? He was handsome, nice, and interested in automail. He checked his watch, "Well, I have to be going now – but it was nice meeting you, Winry."

"Nice meeting you too," she told him with a grin "Maybe I'll see you around town." He nodded.

"Are you going to the carnival?"

"Of course."

"Well, maybe I'll see you there then. Save a dance for me!" And with an elaborate bow, he disappeared off down the street. In the back of Winry's mind, something protested, saying that there was something about this boy that it didn't like. Winry firmly ignored the voice and, checking her own watch, turned and walked back to her house.

* * *

_(Michi: This is relevant, I swear!)

* * *

_

_Winry,_

_I'm sorry about what I said earlier today. You're not at all like a guy (except for the being-a-mechanic thing, and the penchant for senseless violence). Anyhow, the point is that I'm sorry I ever said that. You're really very pretty, and someone would have to be blind as a bat to ever mistake you for a man._

_Ed_

Winry's reaction upon reading the letter was laughter. A lot of it. When she could finally stop laughing long enough to re-read it, all traces of mirth left her face instantly, and a horrible notion occurred to her. What if he's serious? The thought of this scared her a little; the note, if it was serious, sounded an awful lot like Ed might possibly have feelings for her that he really shouldn't.

In Winry's mind, there were two ways that this situation could be handled. She could wither pretend it never happened, or she could confront him about it. And Winry Rockbell had never been the sort to hide from her problems.

This was why, half an hour later, she and Ed were standing under a tree a little ways from the house. She had dragged him out here, along with the note, to talk to him about it.

"Ed," She began, "What exactly did you mean by writing this note?" She asked, waving it around in front of him.

"Hell if I know," He said, "Al told me what to write. He said I had to apologize for what I said earlier and that I should also say you were pretty." He shrugged. "I have no clue why he wanted me to write _that_, but he said it would make you forgive me, so it was worth a try." He grinned, "Didn't work so well, didn't it?"

"So nothing you wrote in that note was true?"

"Not a thing. Except, well, I _am_ sorry for the comment I made."

"But you don't think I'm pretty?"

Ed just sat there for a moment, leaving Winry to feel like a complete fool. Why did she care, anyhow? This was just Ed. She cared about as much for his opinion as she did for Den's. Less, even, as Den was probably more tactful. So why on earth did she care so much?

"Uhhh…"

"EDWARD."

"Well, what do you want me to say! No matter what I tell you, you're going to hit me with that thing!" He gestured at the wrench she was holding, and she dropped it.

"See? No wrench." When he still hesitated, she threw her arms up in the air in defeat. "Why do I even care?" She asked the sky, "I don't really. Good night, Ed." And with that she turned and left.

Ed watched her go, and sank to the ground and proceeded flop backwards, so that he was lying on his back and staring up at the rapidly darkening sky. The stars were only just starting to appear, and all around him, Ed could hear the sounds of crickets beginning to chirp.

"I don't think you're pretty, Winry," He said out loud, "I think you're beautiful."

* * *

_  
Michi: Well, that's the end of Chapter One! I'm terribly sorry for the corny line at the end.. but I just had to put it there. _

Ed: I would NEVER say that. NEVER.

Michi: Well guess what? You just did. Deal.

Al: Sensei, is it really good for your sanity to be talking to fictional characters?

Michi: Probably not.

Ed: … you madwoman.

Michi: Please read the next chapter of my horridly freaked-out story!

Next Time: Some serious conversations, attempted date rape (kind of) and a major beat-down.


	2. The Carnival

**Edit: Ohmigosh I did NOT realize that the format was so wonky! I'm sorry!**

**CHAPTER TWO: THE CARNIVAL

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**

Ed woke up the next day to find Winry standing over him holding a wrench. He yelped, sat bolt upright, and slid backwards until his back his a tree trunk. Winry sighed and sat down in front of him.

"Relax, Ed. I'm not going to hurt you." Ed's eyes widened when she muttered "As much as I'd like to" so softly that he barely heard her. She looked at him suddenly, then at the ground, "Have you been here all night then?" Ed looked around, realizing that he was still sitting under the tree that he had lay down under the night before. He must have fallen asleep.

"Yeah," He said, " I guess I have. Why do you care?" He added, almost bitterly, and saw her flinch at his words. What had her so sensitive all of the sudden?

"I came back for my wrench," She explained, hefting the large tool up for him to see. "I forgot it here when I left last night." She stood up, "I'm going to go back to the house." She said, and, when he didn't say anything, set off down the dirt path that led to the house.

Ed sighed and leaned back against the tree. Listening to Al had, for once, gotten him into trouble rather than out of it. He resolved to give his brother a serious talking-to about meddling in other people's affairs when he got back.

* * *

Winry had left abruptly to conceal the blush rising in her cheeks. Last night, instead of walking back to the house right away, she had lingered a little a bit away from the tree. After a while of watching the sunset, she had turned to go back, and heard Ed's voice.

_"I don't think you're pretty, Winry; I think you're beautiful." _

She had thought, for a moment, that he had realized she was there, but she had eventually figured out that he was just talking to himself. Or to the universe. She had no idea what he'd meant by it and wasn't about to ask him.

_Nice of him, she thought, but why did he say it like it was such a big secret? _She shook her head and pushed all thoughts of Ed from her mind. The first night of the annual spring carnival was tonight, and so Winry thought instead of the young man she had met the previous day, and wondered if she would see him there.

* * *

"Al. could I talk to you for a moment?" Winry asked once she got back inside the house. She shot a furtive glance at Pinako. "Alone?" Not waiting for a response, she proceeded to herd him up the stairs and into her room, and shut the door behind them.

"What's wrong, Winry?" Asked Al, looking slightly frightened.

"Al, you know that note Ed wrote me?" he nodded, and she continued. "Well, he told me that you told him what to write, and I was wondering if maybe," She paused for a moment, wondering how best to phrase it, "if maybe you were trying to make it sound as though Ed likes me as more than just a friend." Al held her gaze for a moment, and then looked down at the floor.

"I'm sorry, Winry," He said, "It's just that even though we finally found the stone, brother hasn't seemed happy lately. I thought that maybe, if you guys loved each other, everyone would be happy." Winry smiled, and hugged him warmly.

"I'm sorry that things didn't work out the way you wanted them to." She told him, "but I don't love Ed – at least not like that – and he doesn't love me." Al nodded.

"I understand." He told her. Winry released him, and ruffled his hair before leaving the room. Al shook his head sadly, "I understand that neither one of you is brave enough to admit it."

* * *

Winry always loved the spring carnival. She loved the dancing, games, and all the people that were there just to have fun and celebrate the end of winter.

She stepped in front of the mirror and eyed her reflection critically. She was wearing a pale pink sundress, and had left her hair down – something she rarely ever did – and had tucked a pink rose behind her left ear. It was a tradition for women and girls over the age of about thirteen to wear a flower behind one of their ears – the right ear for women that were married or in a relationship, and the left if they were single.

Winry grinned at her reflection before leaving her room and walking down the hall to Al's room. She knocked on the door, and was surprised to hear Ed say "Come in." She walked into the room to find Ed sitting cross-legged on the bed, while Al fought with the buttons on his shirt.

"Hi guys," Winry greeted them, "Al, are you almost ready to go?" The boy nodded, and finished buttoning up his shirt.

"I'll be right back," he said, "I think I left my shoes downstairs." He walked out the door to retrieve them, and Winry sat down on the bed to wait.

"Are you sure you don't want to go?" She asked Ed, "It's a lot of fun."

"I don't like those kinds of things. Too many people." Winry shrugged.

"Ok then." Ed opened his mouth to say something else, and hesitated.

"Maybe – maybe I'll show up later." He said. Winry turned around and looked at him incredulously.

"You will?"

"I said _maybe_. " he looked away, and Winry wasn't sure – the light in the room wasn't very good – but she thought he was blushing. "I _do_ owe you a dance, after all." Now it was Winry's turn to blush. She looked away as well, just as the door opened.

Al walked in to find them both red-faced and staring resolutely at anything but each other. He smiled – so far, things were going well. Ed was even going to the carnival with them, albeit a little later. Al had left his shoes under a table in the hall about an hour ago, and when he had left the room, he had retrieved them quickly, and snuck back to eavesdrop.

"Ok, Winry – I'm ready." He said, and Winry practically leapt off the bed.

"Come on then. Bye, Ed." She added. As she seized Al's arm and pulled him out the door. Ed sat staring at it for a long time after they'd gone.

* * *

The park in the center of the small town had been decorated beautifully. There were boquets of flowers everywhere, and a band playing music on a small hill. The flowers were mostly bright colors, such as yellows, and oranges, because tonight's theme was 'youth'.

When Al and Winry had arrived, Al had been immediately accosted by every single girl in the town between the ages of fourteen and twenty, partly because he was so handsome – and a new handsome boy, at that – and partly because he was _The_ Alphonse Elric. So he had shortly been dragged off to a spot near the band where people were dancing. From the looks of it, he was having fun.

It was already dark by the time Winry headed over to the refreshment table for a drink. All of the beverages were non-alcoholic, because the majority of people here were too young to drink anything with alcohol. She was weaving through the crowd of people surrounding the dance area when she suddenly spotted someone she knew.

"George!" She called. At the sound of his name, the blonde boy turned around and grinned at her.

"Hi Winry." He said brightly, "I was hoping to see you here." They were out of the crowd of people now, and standing off to the side, by a barn surrounded by trees. It was darker over here, because the lights from the tapers didn't reach very far at all. "Stay right here," he told her, "I'm going to go get us drinks." And with that, he waded back into the crowd and towards the refreshment table. Winry leaned against a tree casually, and waited for him to return.

* * *

Ed was bored.

He had already organized his sock drawer four times, before going into Al's room and organizing his sock drawer three times. That got boring after about half an hour, and so, for lack of something better to do, Ed went into Winry's room to organize her sock drawer.

Once he got there, however, it occurred to him that Winry just might kill him if she every found out that Ed had been anywhere near her sock drawer. He was just about to leave when he saw the corner of a book peeking out from her pillow. Curious, he poked at it a bit until it fell and landed on the floor. It was a pink book, with a white ribbon bookmark.

_What's this?_ He thought, picking it up and looking through it briefly. His eyes widened as he realized what this must be. _Winry's diary?_ He turned to the latest entry, and – though he knew that if she found out, he was dead – he began to read.

_March 19,_

_I woke up this morning to find Ed and Al in the guest rooms! It was very surprising, as they haven't been back here in at least two years. It was so strange seeing them again – Ed is taller than I am now, and Al has his original body back! He looks so much like Ed, but also like himself, like I remember him. Ed's automail arm and leg are gone too. I'm very happy for him, but it also makes me a bit sad, because I can't be his mechanic anymore. I think that was the only reason why they visited me at all during the past seven years – Ed needed repairs. Now he doesn't, and he won't, and there's nothing to stop them both from leaving forever._

_I don't know what I'd do if they did that. _

_The Spring Carnival is tomorrow – and it will be the first time that Ed and Al will be here in town! Al has said he'll go with me, but I don't think Ed will. It's a pity, because he needs to have fun once and awhile, but he seems like he has trouble just relaxing enough to have a good time. Oh well, I'll try and convince him to come along anyway._

Ed closed the book and shoved it back under Winry's pillow.

_I wonder what else she's written about me?_ He thought as he left. He knew that he could just go comb through the diary for any mention of himself, but he didn't like reading her diary. It made him feel incredibly guilty, not to mention in grave danger. He also found himself wondering what was going on at the Carnival. What were Al and Winry doing?

He began rifling through his dresser for something to wear.

* * *

_(Michi: Ready for a whole succession of intense scenes, folks?)

* * *

_

George handed Winry her drink, and she thanked him and took a sip.

"So, what brings you to Risembool?" she asked him. The punch tasted kind of funny, and, oddly enough, only seemed to make her thirstier. She drained half the glass as he replied.

"Nothing in particular." He said, "I grew up in East City, and so I thought it would be nice to stay here, in a small town, for a while." Winry nodded.

"Well, you picked the perfect place to visit." She informed him, "Risembool is a great place." He nodded, and grinned at her.

"I noticed that. It's really a nice place, especially the people." Winry nodded, and drained her glass.

For the next three-quarters of an hour or so, they talked, danced a bit, and then talked some more. Winry quite liked George – he seemed like a well-mannered guy, not rude or overbearing at all. There was something in the back of her mind that bothered her, however much she tried to ignore it. It was as though all of her instincts were screaming at her to leave, or something. She knew this was ridiculous – there was nothing wrong with George, except – sometimes, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the way he looked at her. It resembled the way that a hungry wolf looks at a wounded rabbit – as though it knows the rabbit doesn't have a chance, and it's only a matter of time.

Gradually, she noticed the she began to feel odd. Like her mind wasn't working as fast or as well as it should. Her senses were dulled slightly, and that only kept increasing. The tiny part of her brain that protested her being around George had seemed to shut down completely, which, frankly, worried her a bit. Suddenly, the world spun, and Winry clutched at a tree for support. George noticed, and looked at her with concern and . . . something else. It was hard to tell.

"What's wrong?" he asked her.

"I – I think I need to sit down for a moment." She said, and noticed that she was slurring her words together ever so slightly. "I feel . . . kind of funny." George seized her arm – and not entirely gently. The voice in the back of her mind gave a final scream and then fell silent.

"Let's go somewhere more . . . private." He suggested, and pulled her behind the barn.

"George, wait, I think maybe I should just go home…" she said plaintively. George turned suddenly, and Winry tried to back up, and realized that he had her backed up against the barn wall. He put a hand on either side of her, and smiled down at her.

"Don't worry," he said, in a tone that made the hair on the back of Winry's neck prickle, "I'll take good care of you."

* * *

Ed couldn't find Winry anywhere, and it was beginning to worry him. He had found Al nearly the moment he had arrived, surrounded by a mob of girls, but Winry was nowhere, it seemed. He climbed up a tree to get a better view of the park, and scanned the carnival for Winry.

He could see quite a lot from up in the tree. There was Al, surrounded by at least a dozen girls, all vying for his attention. Ed chuckled, and continued to survey the area.

What was that – behind the barn? He leaned forward, and strained to see out into the darkness. It looked there was some sort of struggle going on. A fight? No, it didn't look like any sort of fight he had ever seen – more like a game of cat and mouse, or something. Suddenly, one of the figured moved out into the open, and, silhouetted by the moonlight, could be seen clearly. Ed would recognize that silhouette anywhere.

_Winry!_

In no time at all, he was out of the tree and sprinting towards the barn.

* * *

Even through the haze that threatened to overwhelm her, Winry was terrified. Tears of fright flowed freely down her cheeks, and she couldn't seem to focus long enough to get away. All she could do was thrash around as much as possible – and even that was mainly just because of reflexes. She knew that it couldn't last much longer, and soon whatever he had drugged her with would render her completely helpless.

The really horrible part was that George seemed to be enjoying this immensely. He was like a cat who had caught a mouse, and was playing with it for a bit before he decided to kill it. He would let Winry go long enough for her to run a few feet, before either hitting or tripping her, causing her to fall, due to her lack of balance, and then it would happen all over again. The entire time he had a smile on his face, which frightened Winry more than anything else.

Sure enough, her concentration flagged for a moment, and George took the opportunity to pin her up against the wall of the barn, with a hand on her neck, squeezing her windpipe, and holding her there. With his other hand, he hit her hard across the face.

"Enough playing hard-to-get." He growled, his face only inches from her own, "It's been fun, but it's beginning to bore me." With that, he leaned in and kissed her viciously, so roughly that it hurt. Winry whimpered, and he bit her lip. Hard. She felt a trickle of blood run down her chin, and tried to move away. He hit her again, and began to undo the buttons down the front of her sundress . . .

He was only on the second button when Winry felt him being violently ripped away from her. Her knees gave out, and she sank to the ground. She shut her eyes against a world that would not stop spinning, and listened to the sounds around her.

The sounds of someone being hit repeatedly; Winry had a feeling that it was George. She could hear the sickening thuds as he was hit again and again, and grunts of pain. Above all of this, however, she heard a voice. A familiar voice. A familiar, angry voice.

"YOU BASTARD! IF YOU EVER COME WITHIN TEN MILES OF HER EVER AGAIN, I'LL KILL YOU!" Wham! "WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?" Wham!

"Ugghhh." Wham!

"Get out of here, before I change my mind and kill you right now." There were more scuffling noises, as George stood up, and as he hobbled away as fast as possible. His footsteps faded, and all was quiet. Then, more footsteps as her rescuer walked over to her and fell to his knees in front of her.

"Winry?" The voice that had been so strong and full of anger moments earlier now wobbled slightly. "It's me. It's Ed." Winry opened her eyes, squinted, and a pair of golden eyes slid in and out of focus. Eyes that were brimming with tears.

"Ed…?" She smiled in relief, "You _did_ come to the carnival after all …" she said weakly, still slurring a bit.

With a stifled sob, he reached forward and pulled her into his arms, and hugged her so fiercely she thought her bones would snap. She was startled to realize that he was crying, and vaguely wondered why. Ed never cried. It just didn't happen. She tried to hug him back, but her limbs wouldn't cooperate.

It was several minutes before he pulled away and surveyed her critically, as though taking inventory of every bruise. He gently reached forward and wiped the blood off of her chin, before standing up, and gently pulling her to her feet as well.

"Can you walk?" He asked her, and she giggled a bit in response – she had no idea why, but everything seemed funny when the world was doing back flips around you. It occurred her that she might be slightly in shock, but the thought flitted away before she could make sense of it. "I'll take that as a no." He said, "I'm going to have to carry you, then, ok?" Winry nodded, and he gently scooped her up and began walking. Winry yawned; she was dizzy, and wanted to sleep. Ed seemed to read her mind.

"Don't you dare fall asleep." He warned her, "Not until we know what he drugged you with."

"Mmmkay." She muttered, burying her face in his chest. He smelled nice. "Ed?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you. I don't even wanna think about what would have happened if you didn't show up. I owe you one." She was slurring still, but he could still understand her.

"I'll always be there for you, Winry." He replied.

* * *

"You're sure she's going to be all right?" Ed asked anxiously. Pinako nodded; for once there was no gleam of amusement in her eyes. She was tight-lipped, and clearly worried.

"She just has to sleep it off. Speaking of which – take her up to her room and put her to bed, will you? I'd do it, but she needs to be carried." She patted Ed on the back, "And thank you. For caring about her so much." Ed's only response was to be very, very red, and walk over to Winry.

Winry, still conscious but obviously in a drug-induced haze, was just barely managing to sit upright on one of Pinako's examination tables.. Ed walked over, and she looked up at him with slightly unfocused eyes.

"Come on, Winry, time to go to bed." He said gently. She nodded slightly, and he scooped her up off the table and walked up the stairs and into her room, where he deposited her on the chair next to her bed for a moment so he could turn down her bed. Once that was done, he helped her into bed and – after checking to see if anyone was around – tucked her in snugly. He turned to go, but a call from the bed stopped him.

"Ed?" he turned around.

"Yes?"

"Don't go yet. Please." Ed sighed, and sat down in the chair next to her bed. She was half-asleep already, so it wouldn't be long. Once he sat down, Winry seized the hand closest to her, and held it securely with both of hers. Her eyes fluttered closed, leaving Ed to wonder if she was asleep, and when he would be getting his hand back.

"I always feel safe when you're around, Ed." She muttered, Ed leaned in a little to hear better – though it was, of course, just senseless ramblings. She sighed slightly, and rolled over. " 'S one of the reasons why I love you."

* * *

_Michi: Ooh, that chapter was longer than the last one, wasn't it? And the plot twists! _

Ed: Painfully long.

Michi: poke and the plot twists? What about those, eh?

Ed: YOU HORRIBLE WOMAN! I can't BELIEVE the junk people let you get away with!

Michi: The reminds me; ahem to the readers The whole part about the date-rape drugs is horrible inaccurate, I know, but please keep in mind that I had no references for the subject and chucked this chapter together in about two days. So don't flame me, please! If you have any issues, please just tell me what I got wrong, and I'll be sure to correct it! Thanks!

Ed: YOU DESERVE TO BE FLAMED!

Michi: SHUDDUP!


	3. A Good Friend

DICLAIMER: Heh. I forgot this in the first two chapters. Whoops. Anyway, I do not own FMA (probably) but if I did, Ed wouldn't be permitted to wear shirts. Because he is, quite frankly, a studmuffin.

**Edo: What the HELL?**

**Michi: Please to be shutting up now, silly little man. Oh, and before I forget – a big large grande THANK YOU! to everyone who reviewed. I would do the responding personally thing, but I haven't the time. Here's chapter three!**

Edit: I seriously have NO CLUE how you put up with this story as it was before, all running together and bad. I read through it just now and was like "UURGH! It's a wonder I didn't get flamed." Thanks for your patience!

**CHAPTER THREE: A GOOD FRIEND

* * *

**

Winry woke up the next morning to a massive headache. She moaned in pain and buried her face in the pillow. Had she been his in the head with her own wrench? No, more like several wrenches. Several very large wrenches. As a result of her head pounding, it took several moments for her brain to register the fact that she was not entirely alone.

Her eyes suddenly snapped open. Whose hand was she holding? She sat up, and stared in confusion at Ed, who was sitting in the chair next to her bed, fast asleep. She stared in wonder for a few moments, and squeezed his hand gently.

"Ed? Ed, wake up!" He jerked awake, stared blearily at her for a moment, and smiled.

"Oh, you're awake. How do you feel?" What on earth was he talking about? How could he know that she felt awful? And what, exactly, was he doing here? Her head spun with questions, and she told them all firmly to go jump off a bridge before answering him.

"Fine. Apart from the fact that my head's about to split open. Mind telling me what you're doing here?" Well, one or two of the questions had remained. He blinked in surprise.

"You mean you don't remember what happened yesterday?" She thought a moment, and was alarmed to find that she couldn't.

"No," She said, beginning to panic slightly, "I don't remember anything after I found George at the carnival. What happened?" No matter how hard she tried, there was a large blank spot in her memory, and it was very disconcerting. Ed sighed.

"He drugged you, Winry. He drugged you and tried to rape you."

Suddenly, she remembered. Not everything, but flashes of what had happened to her last night. The dizzy feeling. Horror at what was going to happen to her. Trying to run. George's lips on hers.

"Winry?" came a voice from far away, "WINRY!" She snapped back to herself, and snatched the mirror off her bedside table. She looked into it, and gasped.

There was a large, ugly bruise on the left side of her face. Her lips were swollen slightly, and there was a scab on her lower lip. She dropped the mirror on her bed, and stretched out her arms in front of her. They were bruised, from where George had grabbed her. Upon further examination, she discovered bruises all over her legs, and it felt as though there might be some on her hips as well, but she would have to check those later. She glanced up at Ed, and more memories came flooding back: angry shouts, Ed's face, him holding her tightly. She stared at him in surprise.

"How did you know?" She asked, and he sighed again.

"I couldn't find you at the carnival, so I climbed a tree to look for you. From there, I saw you and George at the barn."

"And… what did you do to him?"

"Beat him to a bloody pulp." Winry's eyes widened.

"You did?" He looked away.

"Of _course_ I did. I couldn't just let him go. Not after what he did to you – or would have done if I hadn't shown up." Winry nodded, and, on impulse, reached out and grabbed his other hand as well.

"Thank you." She told him simply. Of course, words couldn't really express how grateful she was to him, but the look in her eyes as she said it gave him a hint. He turned a brilliant shade of red.

"Anyone else would have done the same." He muttered. Winry released him, got up, and began rifling through her dresser for some clothes.

"That may be true," She said, "But anyone else wouldn't have sat by my bed all night. You're a good friend, Ed." She told him, before disappearing into the bathroom with her bundle of clothes. Ed stood up, stretched, and left.

* * *

Upon entering his own room, Ed changed clothes, thinking the entire time about what confusing creatures women were.

_She was drugged last night,_ he concluded, _she didn't have any idea what she was talking about. _This was a certainty, and Ed felt an odd kind of relief. He had been worried about the implications of what she had said last night, but he eventually decided that it was true – Winry loved Ed, and Al as well. Loved them like brothers. That was all she meant by it.

* * *

Winry had been right- there were several bruises on her sides and hips. Some were quite large – all were the purplish-blue of a new bruise. She winced when she saw them, but there really wasn't anything she could do except let them fade normally. Her lip would need to be iced.

She stared resolutely into the mirror, trying to look strong and entirely not bothered. She surveyed her mouth again, and her eyes widened as a thought occurred to her.

_That was my first kiss!_

That thought along was enough to leave her crying into a towel for a good five minutes. Eventually, though, she dried her tears.

_Oh well,_ she thought stubbornly as she washed her face. _That doesn't count as a kiss and that's all there is to it. No one but me ever has to know._ She paused. _But …does Ed know as well?_

When Winry walked stiffly downstairs, Pinako and Al were already there. Pinako winced when she saw the state of Winry's bruises, and Al gasped. He ran over to her and circled her, examining the many bruises on her arms and legs. Once he was done, he burst into tears.

"Al. what-?" Winry began, but was cut off as Al threw his arms around her and she was hit by a wave of pain.

"Winry, I'm sorry!" He wailed, "It was all my fault!"

"Ouch…"

"I should never, ever have left you alone! I'm so sorreeeeeeee!"

"Hey, get off her – can't you see she's all bruised?" Came Ed's voice casually as he descended the stairs. Al obeyed, and backed away. Pinako walked up to Winry as Well, and poked a bruise on the girl's upper arm. Winry jumped slightly – it was a large bruise, and quite painful.

"I'm going to go see if I have any ointment for those." She said, "But I hope you've learned your lesson about accepting drinks from strange boys!" She said, before shuffling off to the next room. Winry hung her head.

"That was harsh." Ed muttered.

"She's only harsh because she was worried, Ed." Winry said, still staring at the ground. "She's right though. I'll never be that stupid again." She looked up at Al, "So you see, it wasn't your fault in the least – it was mine." Tears welled up in her eyes. Tears of shame, and of embarrassment. "For being such an _idiot_." She felt someone place their hands on her shoulders, and looked up to find Ed's face only inches from her own.

"It's _not_ your fault." He told her firmly. "It's George's fault, and no one else's." He said it in a tone that promised extreme trouble fro George if the two boys were to ever meet again, ten miles away from Winry or not.

* * *

That night, as it was getting dark, Winry found herself in a sudden possession of a desire to go to the second night of the spring carnival. There were three nights, each celebrating something different – youth, happiness, and love. Winry had never missed a night of the carnival, and she decided that she wasn't about to start now.

She decided to approach Ed and Al with the idea first; Pinako knew that Winry was perfectly capable of making her own decisions, but the boys would throw an absolute fit, Winry knew, if she left without so much as mentioning it to them. Also, she wanted to see if one of them would go along with her; she wasn't sure if she could handle being alone just yet.

She found them in Al's room – reading, as usual.

"Hi guys." She said brightly, taking a seat on the end of the bed. "Were you two planning on doing anything tonight?" They exchanged a Look.

"No…" Al said slowly, "Why?"

"Well, I was thinking about going to the carnival again," Winry said. Ed dropped his book.

"Are you insane?" he asked incredulously, "After what happened yesterday, you want to go back there? Why?"

"Well, I've never, ever missed a day of the spring carnival." She explained, "I love it so much, and also..." She paused a moment, "I don't want to let – him – prevent me from going places. I won't hide." She smiled slightly, "Besides, if one – or both – of you go with me, I'll be perfectly safe." Al shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Winry." He told her, "But I promised Pinako that I'd help her clean the workshop." He looked sideways at Ed, and smiled, "But you'll go with her, won't you, Big brother?"

"Well, I –,"

"Come on, you don't want to make Winry go alone, do you?" Ed sighed, defeated.

"Ok, I'll go." He said grudgingly, "but only to make sure that nothing happens to you again." Winry grinned and hugged him briefly around the shoulders.

"I couldn't ask for more."

* * *

That night, Winry stood in front of her mirror for far longer than she had the previous night. She was still self-conscious about all of the bruises she had acquired. The perfect solution to that, she decided, was to make herself took as pretty as possible, so that no one would notice. She was wearing a short, form-fitting dress patterned with blue daisies. She had curled her hair slightly, and tied half of it up.

"So what do you think?" she asked Al, who was sitting on the bed behind her, munching on an apple.

"Why are you getting all dressed up to go somewhere with Nii-san?"

"I'm not. It's just so that people won't notice that I look kind of… beat up." Al nodded.

"The darkness should help also."

"That's what I was thinking."

"WINRY!" Came Ed's voice from downstairs, "I'M GETTING BORED DOWN HERE!" Winry rolled her eyes.

"It's too bad you're not going, Al." She said. "It would be more fun if you were." Al grinned.

"I'm sure that you and Brother will have a great time." He assured her. "Besides. I'd only be dragged off by that group of girls anyway." Winry laughed.

"I bet Ed will have the same problem." She said, but Al shook his head.

"If I know Brother, he won't leave your side for a moment."

"WINRY!"

"I'M COMING!" she bellowed back, then turned back to Al. "I hope you're right – I don't want to be alone. Not just yet." Al nodded, and stood up.

"You'd better get going." Winry sighed.

"Yeah, you're probably right." They left her room and walked out into the hall and down the stairs.

"WINRY, DON'T MAKE ME COME UP TH- oh." He blinked, as she and Al walked down the stairs. "There you are. C'mon; let's go already and get this over with." Winry and Al exchanged glances, and Al glared at Ed, who looked quite frightened.

"Ed, you'd better not ruin this for Winry," he said, in all seriousness "you agreed to go, so you're going to have fun!" He smiled suddenly, and pushed both of them out the door. "Have a nice time, make good choices!" Wham. The door shut, leaving Ed and Winry standing outside.

"What the _hell_?" Ed exclaimed, and Winry laughed.

"Come on. We'd better go have fun, or I think Al's going to hurt you."

* * *

Al walked into Pinako's tidy workroom and sat on a stool in the corner. "They're gone." He announced, and Pinako looked up.

"About time." She said. "What took so long, anyway?" Al looked down at the floor.

"Winry." He said. "She – she was worried about all of the bruises she has." They sat in silence for a moment before Pinako spoke.

"And why aren't you going with them?" Al's face broke into a wide grin.

"I told them that I was busy helping you clean your workshop." He said. Pinako looked up at him and smiled.

"Good boy."

* * *

Tonight the atmosphere of the carnival was considerably different. Bouquets of yellow flowers were everywhere, the gazebo next to the band was draped in a canopy of lace, and the whole thing was lively, yet somehow romantic. Apparently love was something most people associated with happiness; the theme for the second day.

Edward Elric was not one of Those People.

"Yuck." He said bluntly, as yet another couple strolled by, fingers entwined.

"Aw, come on, Ed. Isn't it sweet? Just a little?"

"Yuck."

"You are quite phenomenally hopeless." Winry informed him, looking around. She spotted the gazebo; in the half-light of sunset, the white lace seemed to glow as though on fire, with the light of the setting sun behind it. The band was playing a slow amorous melody, and there were only a few couples inside. "Let's go dance!" She suggested, and Ed shook his head.

"Not on your life. You dragged me here, but there is no way in HELL you're going to get me to dance with you." Winry shrugged.

"All right." She said nonchalantly, "Then I suppose I'll just have to go and find someone _else_ to dance with, and you can just stay here." She turned and walked off towards the gazebo. She hadn't gotten very far, however, before she felt someone grab her wrist. She turned, and saw Ed walking next to her.

"Idiot. Haven't you learned anything?" He asked her.

"I know you wouldn't really let me go off by myself." She replied. He turned pink and glared resolutely at all the flowers.

"Maybe just one dance." He lowered his hand so that he was holding her hand rather than her wrist, and pulled her up the steps and into the gazebo.

It was even more beautiful on the inside. Lace all around, creating a filmy white barrier between them and the rest of the world. Perhaps it was the lace, or the sunset, or the torches, but the lighting was dim, golden, and absolutely perfect. Even Ed looked not entirely sorry that he had been talked into dancing.

Well, coming inside the gazebo, actually. The dancing was another matter entirely. He turned a very amusing shade of red when Winry placed her hand on his shoulder, and seeing she would have to do everything, put his hand on her waist as well before catching his other hand in hers and entwining their fingers. It wasn't terribly helpful that he persisted in standing as far away from her as possible. She rolled her eyes and for the fifteenth time tried to bring him closer.

"For goodness sake, Ed, just relax. You're acting as though you've never danced with a girl before."

"That would be because I haven't." Winry snickered when she thought about it; of course – when would he have had time to dance with anyone? She grinned when she realized how entirely inexperienced with women he must actually be.

"Never?"

"Never."

"Amazing. I suppose you've never had a proper girlfriend either? Or kissed a girl before?" He glared at her; Ed did not like to be teased.

"For your information I kissed Hughes' niece at a military party once."

"On the cheek doesn't count, Ed." He glared even more; she had been entirely right in her assumption. She felt an odd sensation in the pit of her stomach – he'd never kissed _her_ on the cheek. She had the sudden desire to kill Hughes' niece.

"Well, You've never had a boyfriend, or been kissed properly either." He taunted in revenge. Winry opened her mouth to say something, but nothing would come out.

_His mouth on hers. Pain._

Ed must have noticed the look on her face, because, close as she was to him, Winry felt him inhale sharply.

"I'm so sorry." He said in a rush, and she looked up at him in surprise – it wasn't like him to ever apologize. For anything. But he truly looked sorry, "I should never have said that." His eyes narrowed, and he stared off into space. "I'll kill that bastard."

"It's fine." She said in a small voice. "I shouldn't have teased you either." He said nothing after that, but simply pulled her closer to him. Winry closed her eyes, fighting against the memories that would not go away.

* * *

Quite some time later, after all the natural light had faded, the two of them emerged from the gazebo, Winry holding onto Ed's arm.

"That wasn't so horrid, was it?" She asked.

"No. I never really thought that it would be."

"Then why all the whining?" He shrugged.

"Well, because if I let you have your way all the time, you'd get spoiled." He said. She released his arm and stood in front of him, hands on her hips. He couldn't help but notice that, despite her bruised cheek and lip, she looked gorgeous. Blue was most definitely a good color for her. She smiled suddenly.

"Well, we did something that I wanted to do, so now it's your turn. Pick something." Ed looked around.

"The Ferris wheel." He said, and she snickered. "What?"

"Nothing. It's just amusing that the Fullmetal Alchemist, Major Elric, Defender of the Weak, Bane of Roy Mustang's Existence, blah blah, likes Ferris wheels." He raised an eyebrow at her, and she slid her hand down his arm, and slipped her hand into his. His eyes widened, but he said nothing about this gesture.

"I've always liked Ferris wheels." He said, "Don't you remember that time when we were really little, and that traveling carnival came into town? And I made you and Al with me over and over?" Winry thought a bit, and nodded,

"And then Al got sick from eating too much cotton candy!"

They reached the Ferris wheel, and the attendant directed them into the first empty seat, with a smile, and a "My, but aren't you two a cute couple!"

"We are NOT a couple!" Ed practically shouted at the man, who jumped about a foot and apologized profusely. Winry had to step in and tell the man it was ok before he gave the order to start the wheel. The seats were rather small, so they had to sit very close together. Neither of them minded – after being friends their entire lives, the closeness didn't bother them at all.

_Then why does my stomach feel so funny? _Winry thought. _Maybe it's a side effect of the drug George gave me yesterday.

* * *

_

"You know, this was actually more fun than I thought it would be." Ed told Winry as they walked back. It was well past midnight, and most of the town had left already.

"Good." Winry said, "Because I'm dragging you back there tomorrow. And Al as well, if he's not busy again." Ed nodded.

"I guess I'll go along with you then." She smiled.

"I had fun too."

They reached the house, whish was entirely dark – Al and Pinako must have already gone to bed. Winry pulled out her key and unlocked the door, and they stumbled around in the dark a bit before finding the stairs. They finally did, and climbed up to the second floor carefully. Ed turned to walk off to his own room, but Winry stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"Ed, wait," he turned to face her.

"What?"

She leaned forward and planted a kiss on his cheek. Even in the dark, she could tell that he was blushing.

"What was that for?" Winry shrugged.

"For being so nice." She said, and walked into her room and shut the door.

She changed quickly into her pajamas and brushed her teeth before climbing into bed. She lay there in bed for quite sometime, staring out into the darkness.

Something was different than it had been two days ago. The shadows in the corner of the room seemed more menacing. A tree branch scraped against the wall, and Winry jumped. In the darkness, it looked as though the shadows were moving. An image flashed in her mind – the back of a barn. Terror, pain. She jumped and pulled the covers over her head. This wasn't any better – it was stuffy, and she couldn't breathe.

_A hand crushing her windpipe…_

She flung the covers off, grabbed a pillow and a few blankets, and left.

Winry checked Al's room first, but he was already asleep, and she didn't want to wake him – he needed all the rest he could get. She considered going downstairs to Pinako, but she didn't want to seem silly, or like a frightened child. That left Ed.

She poked her head in his room. He looked like he might already be asleep, but she wasn't sure.

"Ed?" She called in a loud whisper, "Are you asleep?" He sat up.

"No. What are you doing here?" Winry walked up to the foot of his bed.

"I was wondering if I could sleep in here tonight." She said.

"What's wrong with your room?"

"There's no one in it, that's what's wrong." She said. "I'm a little creeped out from what happened last night." He sighed. "Please?"

"Ok, but only for tonight." Winry nodded, and dropped her pillow and blankets on the floor. He got out of bed and picked them up again.

"Don't be stupid – there's room for both of us." He looked down at himself – he was wearing only a pair of boxers – and tossed her belongings on the bed. "I think I'm gonna go put a shirt on." Now it was Winry's turn to roll her eyes.

"_Now_ who's being stupid? I'm your mechanic – well, I was, at any rate, - I've seen you in your boxers loads of times." She adjusted her pillow and blankets and climbed into bed, and he did the same.

"You'd better not thrash around, or I'm kicking you out." Ed warned.

"I won't, and you'd better not hog the covers."

Within minutes, they were both fast asleep.

* * *

Al woke up bright and early the next morning, and went into Winry's room as soon as he woke up to ask about the carnival. He had meant to stay up and wait for them, but he had fallen asleep around midnight.

"Winryyyyyy, rise and – Winry?" to Al's surprise, she wasn't there, and the pillows and blankets were gone from her bed. Al immediately began to panic.

_Did Winry get kidnapped? Did she run away? Maybe she's downstairs. But why would she be downstairs? Maybe she got hurt and couldn't walk up the stairs! But if that happened, Brother would just carry her, like yesterday. I'll go ask him – maybe he knows what happened. _

Al poked his head into Ed's room, and stifled a giggle. His plan had worked better than he had hoped. Tangled in a mass of blankets and pillows were Winry and Ed, still sleeping peacefully.

_They must have got in late last night._ Al mused, backing out of the room. _I think I'll just let them sleep for now.

* * *

_

**Michi: Ooer.**

**Edo: ….again, I ask you, what the HELL?**

**Michi: I do so enjoy playing puppet master. **


	4. Roses and Jealousy

**Disclaimer: Blah blah blah, the same holds true about Ed and no shirt. **

**Michi: OMG I'm such an idiot! Since I can't be bothered to read chapters once they're posted, I didn't notice until just now that the little squiggly line thingy I use for line breaks _doesn't work_. So don't worry people – I am not, in fact, a dunce who can't divide scenes. I do, it just doesn't show up. But this chappie, I'll make it work. **

**Again, THANK YOU to everyone who reviewed! I feel really, really bad for not replying personally, but a) the time constraints and b) the time constraints. And I dunno if it's allowed. But yeah, you people who review REALLY mean a lot to me. Last week, I was having a really awful day, and so when I got home from school I got on the compy, and, lo and behold, there were new reviews! So I read them, and they just totally made my day. **

**And for any of you who may worry about me being stricken by writers' block, never fear – the entire story has already been written out longhand, and I just need to type it up. So it's complete, as well as a oneshot that happens later and I'm starting on the sequel (RoyxRiza!). Jumping the gun a bit but eh, why not?**

**Ed: Oh my GOD, just SHUT UP! **

**Michi: Hmmph. Here's Chapter Four!**

**CHAPTER FOUR: ROSES AND JEALOUSY**

* * *

Winry's first thought upon waking was _Why does my pillow feel… not like a pillow? _She opened her eyes to immediately find the answer to her question; she wasn't actually lying on her pillow. She lifted her head and realized that she was lying on Ed.

She was lying on her side, with her head resting on his shoulder, and her left hand resting on his chest. Her left arm was wrapped around her waist, and their legs were just generally intertwined. Winry blushed quite a bit, and tugged the hem of her oversized t-shirt down, to ensure that she was completely covered; not that Ed would be able to see anything from where he was, anyhow. Other than that, she didn't move, not wanting to wake him. Her breathing, she realized was slightly faster than normal, and she could feel the heat radiating from his body in all the places that they were touching. She forced herself to breathe more slowly, and ignore the heat, enticing though it was.

_ How did _this_ happen?_ She wondered, thinking back to the previous night. _Oh yeah. I couldn't sleep, so I asked if I could sleep in here…but we fell asleep on opposite sides of the bed!_ They had, obviously, intended for it to stay that way, but apparently Winry's subconscious had a mind of its own. _Oh well. I guess I'd better go before he wakes up and wonders what on earth I'm doing lying on him like this…_She started to untangle herself, but, to her immense surprise, he muttered "no" and pulled her closer with the arm encircling her waist. Startled, she looked at him; he was still fast asleep.

Winry smiled and lay down again, snuggling closer to him. Apparently Ed's subconscious had a mind of its own as well. She vaguely wondered what this could mean before drifting off to sleep once more.

* * *

Ed woke up to find a mass of pale blonde hair on his chest. _Winry?_ He thought vaguely. _What the- _then he remembered that he had let her sleep with him last night. He blushed profusely. Sleep in the same bed as him, he meant. The other wording … no.

_ I told her not to thrash…_he thought, feeling a bit agitated. He couldn't stay upset for long however; soon he found himself just lying there watching her sleep. She really was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen, and she looked so at peace when she was sleeping.

As if she sensed him watching her, Winry stirred slightly, rubbed her eyes, and looked up at him.

" 'Morning." She said, somewhat incoherently. She seemed to wake up a little more, and looked at the position they were lying in, and immediately untangled her legs from his. "Sorry about that," She said. Ed hid a smile – she was about six different shades of red. "I … I normally don't move around that much."

"It's ok," Ed told her. "I mean, it's not as though you did it on purpose." She laughed.

"We're friends, Ed, but not _that_ friendly, if you know what I mean." She sat up, and began gathering her belongings, and Ed felt suddenly alone, without her warm weight resting next to him. "Thanks for letting me sleep here." She said.

"Anytime," he said, and she left. Once she was gone, he realized the implications of what he'd just said.

_ Anytime? Idiot! Now she'll bother me every time she can't sleep! Great._

_ Would that really be such a bad thing?_ A tiny corner of his mind whispered. He frowned at it, and it scampered off into the darkness.

_ Of course it would be.

* * *

_

When Winry walked downstairs, Ed was already there, and appeared to be thoroughly ignoring Al, who kept waggling his eyebrows at his older brother. He spotted Winry, and turned his attention to her.

"Good morning, Winry." Waggle waggle. "How was yesterday?" Waggle.

"It was fun." She said, "I got Ed to dance with me, and we went on the ferris wheel." She wished he would stop wiggling his eyebrows at her; it was getting kind of weird.

"How about after you got back?"

"After-," Winry began, puzzled, but then put two and two together. _Oh no…_ "Al, you didn't happen to look into Ed's room this morning, did you?" He looked slightly guilty, and wouldn't meet her gaze, "Al?"

"You should learn to lock doors if you're going to do stuff like that." Ed made a sort of choked noise, went a shade of red that put the apple he was munching on to shame, and left. Winry sighed.

"Al, I couldn't sleep when we got home because of – because of what happened the first night of the carnival, so I asked Ed if I could sleep in his room." Al cocked an eyebrow.

"That doesn't explain why you two were all _cozy_ like that. If you're going to sleep in a room with someone else, you might want to put shorts on so the world doesn't see your pink polka-dot panties." Now it was Winry's turn to blush.

"Al! The color of my panties is completely irrelevant."

"They _were_ pink polka-dots, though!"

"I _know_. Anyway, when we went to sleep, we were on opposite sides of the bed." She explained, "We must've just moved while we were sleeping." Al didn't look entirely convinced. "If there was anything going on between Ed and I, don't you think we'd tell you?" Al thought a moment.

"Yes, I suppose." His face lit up suddenly. "Does that mean that you two might…"

"No!" Winry said adamantly. Al didn't get a chance to say anything more, however, because at that moment, Pinako walked into the room.

"I see Ed isn't here." She commented, "You two finally got untangled then, didn't you?" Winry blushed again.

* * *

It wasn't easy for George to walk all the way to the house on the hill, due to the injuries he had sustained two days earlier. He finally got to the top, and walked towards the house.

He was here because his cat had been hit by a car and needed an automail leg. George really didn't care for the animal terribly much, but getting an automail leg for it would be a good opportunity to show off how much money he had.

He was nearing the front door when a large sign caught his eye; it was the name of the automail shop.

_ Rockbell …_ he thought, and the name wandered through his mind in search of something to connect with. It found something. Pain, and lots of it. Of course! Winry Rockbell was the cute blonde that George had almost hooked up with at the carnival. He paled. What if that other guy was hanging around?

He was just about to turn and leave when the front door opened, and Winry Rockbell herself walked out.

Winry just stared for a moment, unable to believe her eyes – she just stood there, in shock. Part of her wanted to collapse into a sobbing heap and let Ed deal with him, but another part….another part wanted to take her wrench to the bastard and beat the living daylights out of him.

As usual, the violence won.

She shrieked and flung her wrench at him. It hit him squarely in the face, and he fell over, clutching at his (probably broken) nose. Winry ran over, grabbed her wrench, and proceeded to pound him senseless with it.

"YOU!" Crunch. If it wasn't broken before, it most definitely was now. "HOW DARE YOU COME HERE AFTER WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO ME! YOU STOLE MY FIRST KISS! I CAN'T SLEEP ALONE ANYMORE!" She was crying now, and as a result, the blows were getting weaker. Suddenly, George reached up and grabbed her wrist. She dropped the wrench in surprise – it hadn't occurred to her that he might _do_ anything. He stood, still holding her wrist, and gave her a look that made her stumble backwards a few steps. She screamed again, but instead of a scream of rage, it was a shriek of terror.

Suddenly, a hand descended on George's shoulder, and Winry and George both turned to find Ed staring at George with a look so murderous it made even Winry shudder. George, on the other hand, looked as though he was about to soil his trousers.

"Let her go. Now." Ed commanded. George thrust Winry's hand away from him, and Ed stepped smoothly between the two of them. He was so close that Winry couldn't see anything past him. She suspected that he did this on purpose. Without any warning, he punched George hard in the face – or so Winry guessed. George recovered quickly, turned, and sprinted down the hill.

It was at this point that Winry's knees gave out, and she sank to the ground, tears streaking her face.

* * *

Ed felt rather than saw Winry slide to her knees behind him, and turned around. Sure enough, there she was; legs folded beneath her, staring off into the distance as tears fell from her eyes unchecked. He sat in front of her, and she seemed to snap back to reality, and her eyed focused on him. She gave a hollow laugh.

"You always seem to get there just in time, don't you?" She hung her head. "I'm sorry." Ed was taken aback.

"For what?" She looked up.

"For causing you so much trouble." She told him. "I should have just let him go, but I was so angry – so I hit him with my wrench. A lot. But then he grabbed my wrist, and I dropped it, and—" She realized she was rambling and stopped. Ed was amazed – how could she think she was causing him trouble? It was him that had let her down by not getting there fast enough. He placed his hand over hers, and squeezed it gently. She looked up at him in surprise, but said nothing. Ed let a few moments pass before her got to his feet, and helped her up as well. She seemed all right – she had stopped crying—but he put an arm around her just to be sure.

"What's going on out – OOH!" Al stepped out of the front door and, upon noticing the cat that George had left, ran over and scooped it up. "Awww, she needs a leg, poor thing…" Ed eyed the cat.

"That must be why that bastard was here." Al looked puzzled for a moment, but noticed that Ed had his arm around Winry, made some excuse regarding the cat, and dashed inside. Ed sighed - Al was so horribly misguided; he still entertained notions that Ed and Winry would become a couple. _That_ was certainly never going to happen.

Winry had recovered quickly from her run-in with George, and by nightfall was thinking of nothing but the carnival.

Both Ed and Al would be going this time, so there would be no awkwardness regarding the 'love' theme – though she somehow had the distinct feeling that Al would do his best to push her and Ed together. Perhaps Winry needed to have another talk with him – the one had, apparently, not done an ounce of good.

* * *

Tonight, in the spirit of romance – though she certainly wouldn't be involved in any – Winry had spent quite a while trying to decide what to wear. She finally decided on a red dress with very thin straps and a slightly ruffled hem. The dress - like many of the ones Winry owned – was rather short, reaching only to midthigh. She left her hair down and curled it slightly. She didn't place a flower behind her ear, as was traditional on the 'love' night, the reason being that, supposedly, anything could happen.

When she finally walked downstairs, Ed and Al were already waiting for her. Ed, surprisingly, hadn't shouted at her to hurry up – evidently he had learned that it took a while for her to make herself look nice. Both Ed and Al looked exceptionally handsome – and uncommonly dressed-up. Ed had even put his hair in a ponytail, rather than the usual braid.

"You look gorgeous, Winry!" Al said, as he offered her his arm. She took it, and smiled. Ed didn't say anything, and Winry couldn't help but be slightly disappointed. She wondered why his face was so red? Perhaps the shirt he was wearing was hot. Al frowned, reached out, and poked Ed in the ribs. Ed started, and then smiled at Winry.

"Uh, yeah, you look great!" He grinned, a little nervously, and opened the door. "Let's go."

The carnival looked as though a gardener had thrown a fit. There were pink and red flowers everywhere –mostly roses – and bunches of red roses hung from trees and the flower-laden gazebo in the middle of the park. Those bunches of roses were, though Ed and Al probably didn't know it, like a springtime equivalent of mistletoe.

Winry was just about to ask Ed and Al what they wanted to first when a girl around their age sauntered up to Ed. She was amazingly beautiful and had long, shiny black hair. She batted her long eyelashes seductively and placed a hand on Ed's arm.

"Hey cutie," She purred, "Are you here alone?" Winry stepped forward before she could stop herself, dragging a very surprised Al along with her.

"No, he's here with us." She said firmly. The girl's eyes widened in mock innocence.

"Well, I was only going to ask him to dance. Surely the three of you weren't going to _dance_ together, were you?" She batted her eyelashes at Ed again, "What do you say?" Ed grinned, and Winry wanted to choke both of them.

"Sure." He said, and allowed himself to be led off by the raven-haired girl.

"Winry?" Al said, sounding concerned, "What's wrong? You look like you're about to kill something."

"Nngh."

"Surely you're not jealous?" Winry growled, and Al stepped back.

"Cone on, Al, let's go dance." And without waiting for an answer, she dragged him off to the gazebo by his ear.

* * *

Ed was having a great time dancing with Scarlett – the girl who had asked him to dance. She was nice, and intelligent – not to mention breathtakingly gorgeous.

"You mean you haven't been in Resembool at all for the past seven years?" She asked, when he told her about his stint in the military.

"I have, but only to see my mechanic for a few days at a time. That was her that I came here with." Scarlett laughed.

"Your mechanic? Funny, because I always think of mechanics as big, burly men. Who was the other boy? Her boyfriend? Your gardener?" Ed shook his head.

"My little brother. The three of us have been friends for all of our lives." Scarlett nodded.

"I see. And that was why she's so possessive of you?"

"Possessive?" Scarlett nodded.

"Very. She nearly clawed my eyed out when I asked you to dance." Instead of giving Ed a chance to deny it, as he obviously would, she changed the subject quickly. "These carnivals are a nice tradition, don't you think? Is this your first time attending one?" Ed nodded, and she continued. "Oh, then you probably don't know many of the customs within a carnival."

"Like what?" Scarlett's eyes twinkled mischievously.

"Well, like how women wear flowers behind their ears – left for single, right for taken – except for tonight, of course. And if someone gives someone else a white flower, it's like a request to save a dance for him or her. And—" she paused dramatically, "—do you know what those bunches of roses on the ceiling are for?" Ed's brow wrinkled slightly; he could tell she was up to something.

"No."

"Here," She said, taking the lead in the dance and guiding him under a bunch, "Let me show you."

* * *

Winry was dancing with Al, and watching Ed and That Girl like a hawk the entire time.

"I wonder what they're talking about?" She said for the fourth or fifth time. Al sighed, also for the fourth or fifth time – Winry could really be a little obsessive compulsive at times.

"If you want, we can dance closer to them." He offered patiently. Winry shook her head.

"No; then they'll wonder why we're so interested."

"Winry, why _are_ we so interested?" Winry didn't reply – in fact, she had stopped dancing altogether. "Winry? What's wrong?" But Winry was too busy watching the girl lead Ed underneath a bunch of red roses. Al looked and – having been mobbed by a bunch of talkative girls two nights ago – knew exactly what the bunch of roses stood for.

"What does that – that _hussy_ think she's doing!" Winry exclaimed, though it came out as more of a squeak. The black-haired girl pointed up to the roses, as though explaining the purpose. She looked across the dance floor and caught Winry's eye for a split second, before placing a hand gently on the back of Ed's neck and bringing her face close to his as though she were about to kiss him. Ed leaned in as well, and slid an arm around the girl's waist. Winry felt, for some reason, as though someone had just punched her hard in the stomach.

Winry grabbed the first thing that came to hand – Al's pocket watch – and lobbed it at the girl. It hit her in the ankle, and, with a slight cry of pain, she backed away from Ed. By that time, Winry had crossed the dance floor, Al in tow, and stood glaring at the both of them. The girl, oddly enough, didn't seem to mind – Winry even spotted something that might have been relief in her eyes before she walked away – limping slightly—but Ed looked furious. After taking one look at his brother's enraged expression, Al went after the girl, muttering something about apologizing.

"What the HELL was that all about!" Ed demanded.

"You should be thanking me for saving you from that – that _snake-woman_!" Ed looked at her incredulously.

"From Scarlett?"

"Yes!"

"Why did I need saving, exactly?" He asked, still glaring.

"She was trying to seduce you!"

"_How_?"

"With _those_!" Winry said, pointing at the bunch of roses that was hanging directly overhead. Ed looked at the flowers, and gulped. "What?" Winry said loudly.

"Winry, we're…. Uhh…"

"We're _what_? Fighting? Being stared at? Blonde?"

"We're standing right underneath those roses." He said softly, all traces of anger gone from his voice.

"Oh." Winry suddenly felt as though she had swallowed several very large, very angry butterflies. "And… what are we…um….going to do about that, exactly?" Was it just her, or were they very close all of a sudden?

"I don't know." Ed admitted. Winry noticed that he had shifted closer while he was talking. She seemed to have no control over her body, because the next thing she knew, she had taken a step forward as well, and placed a hand on his shoulder. Their noses were now only inches apart, and it was hard to look at him without going cross-eyed.

"We should probably move," She murmured, "So we're not standing under them anymore."

"Good idea," He said, just as softly, placing a hand on her lower back. He seemed to be drifting closer by the second, as was she. Winry could feel his breath on her face. It tickled slightly. If she moved forward just an inch or two—

But a new thought occurred to her when she moved her foot and felt an object on the floor.

"Ed?" She said. _Shut up!_ A voice in her head was screaming. _Just a few more inches!_ His face was so close she could feel the heat radiating from it.

"Yes?" he pulled back slightly so that he could look at her without going cross-eyed.

"Al left his pocket watch. It's lying next to my foot." Ed removed his hand from her back, and stepped backwards. Reluctantly, Winry let her hand drop from his shoulder.

"We should probably go give it to him then, shouldn't we?" he said. Winry nodded, and he picked it up. The moment had passed, and they were back to playing their roles as friends. Keeping their distance from each other, they walked off in search of Al.

* * *

"I'm really, really sorry about that." Al said. He was sitting on a park bench next to Scarlett, who was holding a glass of ice against her ankle. "I had no idea that she would throw something at you."

"I did. I'm just lucky that the pocket watch was all she threw at me. Oh well – at least I didn't have to actually kiss him – you were right about that part." Al nodded; he had known that Winry would throw a fit – he just hadn't known how much of a fit.

"Thanks for your help." He told her. "I owe you one."

"If by 'one' you mean a new ankle, then yes, you do." Al smiled.

"Well, Winry's an automail mechanic, but—"

"But I'm not likely to get any automail out of her in this lifetime, am I?" She moved her ankle around a bit, and winced delicately. "Besides, it's not that bad." Al couldn't help but feel guilty.

"Well, I would offer to dance with you to make it up to you, but seeing as you hurt your ankle that badly…" Scarlett placed the glass on the bench and leapt to her feet.

"I could never be hurt too badly to dance with you, Alphonse," She purred, steering him towards the dance floor. Al sighed, and wondered what exactly he had gotten himself into.

* * *

The rest of the carnival passed relatively uneventfully, after that, and Winry, Ed, and Al left yearly, and went back. The house was dark, so they had to find their way upstairs blindly again.

"'night, guys." Winry told them as she walked into her room. They muttered 'good night' as well, and walked into their respective rooms. Winry quickly undressed and got into bed, resolving to actually sleep by herself tonight.

* * *

An hour later, she was still awake, and severely creeped out.

_ This is getting ridiculous._ She thought, gathering her blankets and pillows. She considered going into Ed's room but decided against it – considering what had happened earlier, she doubted she would be very welcome. She didn't want to disturb Al, either, so she walked down the stairs and sat down on the couch in the living room. This wasn't all that much better than being in her own room, actually. Perhaps she _would_ go bother Al…

"Winry? Is that you?" There was no need to bother Al after all --- he was walking downstairs.

"Al? What are you doing here?" Winry asked, sitting up.

"I thought I heard someone on the stairs, and I was right. What are _you_ doing here?"

"I couldn't sleep." She couldn't see him very well, but she thought he was grinning.

"Why didn't you sleep in nii-san's room again?" Winry sighed, and Al sat next to her on the couch.

"Because something… something happened. Or didn't happen. It did but it didn't. Well, almost." Al looked very confused. "After you and that hussy – Scarlett – left, Ed and I sort of had an argument. Then we realized that we were standing under the roses."

"And?" Al asked eagerly.

"Well, then I realized that you had forgotten your pocket watch and we went to go find you. But before that, I – we – we nearly—"

"Did you?"

"No, thankfully. I don't know what I was thinking, or what Ed was thinking for that matter. I don't think we even _were_ thinking." She shook her head. "It must have just been the candlelight and the fumes from the flowers, and—"

"Ed's gorgeous golden eyes?"

"Yes – No! Al!"

"I'm sorry. You can sleep with me tonight, if you want."

"Ok," Winry said, "I won't get any sleep otherwise. Thanks." She began to gather her belongings, and Al helped her carry them upstairs, along with the cat George had left. Pinako had bandaged its leg, and Winry made a mental note to take measurements for an automail one.

Even with Al sleeping peacefully next to her, Winry lay awake for a while, thinking.

_ I wonder what would have happened if Al hadn't left his pocketwatch?

* * *

_

Ed: Errrrrrr… 

_Michi: Hahahahaha. _

_Ed: Nothing would have happened. _

_Michi: You poor deluded fool. Now your brother is sleeping with your girl (quite literally). _

_Ed: … the next chapter had better not suck. _

By the way: Scarlett is NOT a self-insert (she's a SKANK) and no, she's not going to end up with Al. I haven't sold out THAT much, at least. Please, PLEASE don't flame me for using an original character – she's only ever mentioned again once at the end. So don't hate me!


	5. Farewell, Ed

**Disclaimer: Waah. Read the other two. **

Michi: Thank you so much to all the people who reviewed last time! I replied to all of the signed reviews, but not the anonymous ones, so I'd just like to say a huge THANK YOU! to all of them as well. Get an account so I can reply to you personally!

And since some of you seem confused on the matter; I am, in fact, female.

Ed: Which is why I call her a madwoman.

Michi: Shut yo mouth, shorty.

**Chapter five! Only two more left!**

**

* * *

CHAPTER FIVE: FAREWELL, ED**

* * *

Ed woke earlier than usual and got dressed quickly – he wanted to talk to Al about what had happened last night at the carnival. He walked into Al's room, and found Al still asleep – and to Ed's surprise, Winry was sleeping next to him. Ed felt the sudden desire to kill his younger brother. He didn't know why; he just did. Was that normal? He snatched a pair of socks off the dresser and threw them at Al to wake him up.

"Huh?" Al blinked and sat up. "Good morning, big brother!" Ed just frowned, and pointed at Winry, who was still asleep.

"What—the hell—" Al looked puzzled.

"She couldn't sleep, so I told her that she could sleep in here. What's wrong? Why is your face so red?"

"Never mind – I'll just talk to you later." He said hurriedly, before turning and walking out.

Ed didn't know where to go after that, but he didn't want to stay in the house, so he left, and thought maybe he'd walk around the town a bit. He started down the hill towards the rest of the town, hands shoved in his pockets, eyes on the ground in front of him; the very portrait of a rejected man.

What _was_ his problem, anyway? He certainly wasn't jealous – this was _Al_, after all. He did feel a little hurt, though, that Winry had gone to Al when she couldn't sleep. Hadn't Ed been comforting enough? Or maybe she didn't want to be around him after what had happened last night. Ed didn't blame her – he had definitely gotten a little carried away.

He was in town before he realized it, and walking around without really paying attention to where he was going. Suddenly, amidst the crowd, he spotted someone – or more than someone – that he knew. It was actually a wonder that he saw them at all, considering that they were dressed as normal civilians.

"Mustang? Hawkeye?" The pair turned around, and Roy swore loudly.

"_You _weren't supposed to find _us._" Riza explained, "We were supposed to find you."

"But—why?" Ed asked. Roy sighed.

We were supposed to just burst in on you and drag you back to Central for your farewell party." He clapped a hand over his mouth, "Dammit, that was supposed to be a surprise also." Riza glared at him for a moment before speaking.

"Anyhow, our orders are to have you and Al on a train back to Central by this afternoon, so I suggest that you go find Al and get packed. Where are you staying?"

"With my mechanic, Winry Rockbell." Ed replied. Roy laughed madly and elbowed Ed in the ribs. "Ow! Bastard, that hurt—"

"Living with her, eh? EH?"

"WHAT ARE YOU IMPLYING?"

"Oh come on, Fullmetal, you're not fooling anybody." Roy said, "It's blatantly obvious that you're in love with the girl!"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean—" he clapped a hand over his mouth.

"Ohoho, he admits it!"

"I DIDN'T MEAN THAT! STOP SMILING! I'LL KILL YOU, YOU—" Riza smoothly stepped in front of Roy, effectively stopping Ed's outburst; he wasn't an idiot. Even wearing a skirt and blouse, Riza was still very intimidating.

"I can see this is a delicate issue, so we won't be bothering you about it." She said, "Miss Rockbell can come along too, if you want, but we need to get going." Ed nodded, and led them back to the house.

* * *

By evening, Roy, Riza, Ed, Al, and Winry were all on board a train headed for Central.

Roy was getting on Ed's last nerve at this point, with all the eyebrow waggling, suggestive glances, and constantly leering and going "Eh? EH?".

_I swear I'm going to kill him before we ever reach central._ Ed thought. Roy simply would _not_ leave the subject of Ed and Winry alone – not that there was anything to discuss, of course. His plans for murdering Roy were cut short, however, when Winry walked over and sat across from him.

"Are you sad that you're leaving the military?" She asked suddenly. He shook his head.

"Not really." He told her. "I definitely won't miss having Mustang as my commanding officer – that bastard." He clenched his fist for emphasis, and Winry nodded.

"Oh." She said softly. Ed sighed. He _had_ to talk to her about it.

"Winry, about yesterday—"

"Yeah, about that—can we just pretend it never happened?" Ed nodded.

"That's what I was going to say." He said, and noticed an odd sort of flapping motion off to the side behind Winry. It was none other than Colonel Mustang, jumping p and down and mouthing the words 'kiss her'. Ed ignored him—not wanting to draw attention to him—and Roy did not take well to being ignored.

"KISS HER!" he yelled, and practically the whole train turned and looked. Both Ed and Winry turned bright red, and Ed leapt to his feet, shaking his fist at Roy.

"SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH, YOU—where'd he go?" for it was as if an invisible force had pulled Roy into another compartment and out of sight. Ed started to go after him, but Winry grabbed his arm, forcing him to stop.

"Ed, just let him go."

"But—you heard what he said!"

"Yes, but you can't go on a homicidal rampage every time he says something like that. Besides, you're scaring the children." Ed looked around, startled by her last sentence, and sure enough, there were three wide-eyed kids peeking out from around the edge of the seat. One of them—a little girl—reached up and tugged on Ed's sleeve. When he looked at her, she beckoned for him to come closer, so he obediently leaned down so that she could whisper in his ear.

"She's pretty." The girl said in a whisper loud enough for Winry to hear, "I think you should listen to that man and give her a kiss!" Ed flushed a brilliant shade of red, and the children laughed and ran off.

"Stupid kids don't know what they're talking about." He muttered. He was too busy muttering darkly to see it, but out of the corner of her eye, Winry thought she saw Al give candy to the same three children.

* * *

"Sir, was that really necessary?" Riza asked once she had pulled Roy into a separate compartment. It was entirely empty, so they were alone.

"Of course. Ed needs a push in the right direction. Or a kick." Riza shook her head.

"One of these days, sir, you're going to regret giving him such a hard time about everything. He's not going to stay small forever – sooner or later he'll get big enough to actually carry out his threats." Roy shook his head.

"No, one day he'll thank me for all of this. And Riza?"

"Yes, sir?"

"You really don't have to call me 'sir' all the time. Just call me Roy." Riza blushed and avoided his gaze.

"That would be improper, sir." He put a finger under her chin and raised her head slightly so that she was looking at him.

"Just when we're alone, I want you to call me Roy. That's an order." He said it gently, but firmly. Well, Riza couldn't disobey an order.

"Yes s—Roy." He patted her on the cheek gently.

"That wasn't so hard now was it?" He said, before turning, and leaving the compartment. Riza stood there for quite some time after he left, trying to gather her thoughts and her composure.

* * *

_Michi: Now, I wanted to cut this scene out entirely, because it's irrelevant and pointless, but one of my beta-readers pointed out that it told us that Ed was taller than Winry, and I decided it shows that they still argue and get along like they used to, so I decided to keep it in. **–checks word count- **oh good lord this chapter's going to be long.

* * *

_

The area where Ed and Winry were sitting was rather small, so their knees touched slightly, despite the fact that they were sitting across from each other. Neither of them said anything for a while as both fought blushes, before Winry, who couldn't stand the silence anymore, spoke.

"Er . . . even though you won't miss the job—or Roy—are there any people you'll miss? I mean, you _have _been in the military for seven years; you must have made friends, right?" Ed thought a moment.

"To be honest, I didn't know many of them very well. I suppose that Armstrong's nice, and so is Hawkeye, but it's not like my leaving the military will by all that traumatic. It's going back there that will be the traumatic part."

"Why? Do they tease you still for being short?" Ed's face colored slightly.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SHORT?" He didn't bother to throw in any insults, because being called short didn't have the same sting, really, when the person saying it was shorter than you were. And when she was looking at you with those angelic blue eyes . . ._snap out of it, Ed_. . .he thought abruptly. "Besides, you're about a foot shorter than I am." She snorted.

"Please. It's more like an inch. Half an inch."

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Why don't we just see?" Said Ed, standing up, and Winry followed suit. Due to the lack of room in the area they were standing in, standing up only made it smaller.

"That's definitely not a foot, Ed."

"Well, it's not an inch, either." He retorted. "It's about five."

"Four." She corrected him, before sitting down quickly; standing up on a train like this made her slightly dizzy for some reason, and she couldn't quite seem to catch her breath. Sitting down didn't improve the situation much, but it was better than standing.

She firmly refused to believe that her symptoms had anything to do with how close together she and Ed had been standing.

* * *

Almost the moment Winry had set down her bags in her hotel room there was a knock at the door. She immediately opened it to admit one of the last people she expected to see.

"Miss Riza? Please, come in."

"Just Riza, please." The older woman said, walking into the room. "About Edward's farewell party—do you have a dress suitable for the occasion?" Winry thought a moment.

"Probably not. Is it very fancy?"

"It's a military party." Riza said, smiling, "So the men wear their military uniforms, if they're in the military, tuxedos if not, and all the women try and find the most revealing, scandalous thing possible. So yes, very fancy." Winry grimaced.

"I don't think I have anything _quite_ that fancy." She admitted. Riza patted her on the shoulder.

"That's what I'm here for. We're going shopping."

"But I don't have the money for an expensive dress, either."

"That's what Ed's for. He got one hell of a huge payoff when he found the stone. What else is he going to spend it on?"

"Ed wouldn't pay for—" Riza held up a hand, and she fell silent.

"Believe me, he won't mind. Let's go."

* * *

And so that was how Winry found herself in Central's finest dress shop with Riza, who knew a lot more about dresses than Winry had originally given her credit for. The usually professional and serious woman apparently had a secret love for fancy clothes.

"You definitely want something sleeveless, or even completely strapless." The attendant said, eyeing Winry's somewhat muscular arms.

"And dark." Riza added, "This is a formal evening event." Winry nodded absently, allowing herself to be guided around the store. She looked around at all of the beautiful dresses, and felt lost.

"But how can I pick just one?" Winry asked despairingly. "They're _all_ gorgeous." Riza held up a hideous dress in a disgusting shade of yellow.

"_All_ of them?" The attendant glared at Riza but said nothing.

"Ok, not all of them, but most of them. I don't know where to begin looking . . ." she plucked at a purple dress and made a face; it was covered in hideous ruffles and bows. The attendant frowned once more and flounced away to help some other customers.

"Try over there." Riza suggested, pointing to a rack of green dresses. Winry thought about it, and nodded; green was a nice color. She walked over to the rack and started flipping through it, as Riza continued to browse the red dresses.

Winry ran her hand over the rack and pulled out a dress at Random. She winced; it was a horrid shade of bright green with full sleeves. She tried again—the second one was better, but still far from gorgeous. The third one was worse than the first.

The fourth one, however, was perfect. It was silk, entirely strapless, and fell to the floor. It was in a gorgeous deep shade of green. She looked over at Riza, who grinned, and nodded approvingly.

"Go try it on," She urged. Winry, however, had made the mistake of looking at the price tag.

"No, I can't make Ed pay for this." She said wistfully, reaching to put it back. Riza stopped her with a hand on her arm.

"Try it on before you make any decisions." She suggested, giving Winry a gentle push in the direction of the changing rooms. Winry obediently walked into the room and slipped into the dress. It fit as though made specifically for her. It was tight and form-fitting until it his her hips, and then it was looser around her legs. Winry spun slowly in front of the mirror before opening the door to show Riza.

"It's perfect!" Riza exclaimed, in an uncharacteristic display of girlishness, "You have to buy it! He'll forgive you completely for the price once he sees you in it." She said it with a certainty that Winry didn't quite have.

"I don't know . . ." She said, looking at the dress. "It _is_ perfect . . ."Riza pulled out a gun from somewhere, and Winry's eyes widened.

"Don't worry; if he whines too much, I'll shoot him." She said cheerfully. Winry knew that she was only joking, but she had the sneaking suspicion that Riza would, in fact, shoot _at_ Ed—though perhaps not actually hit him—if he made too much noise. Winry decided to buy it anyway; Riza still had the gun in her hand.

* * *

"Ed! I have something for you!" Winry called, as she walked into the hotel room Ed shared with Al. Riza right behind her. Ed was sitting on the couch reading, so Winry sat next to him and presented him with a folded-up piece of paper.

"Oh no. What is it?" he asked, taking it and opening it up. "A BILL?"

"Yes." Winry said innocently, leaning closer and sliding an arm around Ed's shoulders. "You bought me a dress. A very pretty dress."

"I BOUGHT YOU A DRESS? WHEN?" he demanded. She didn't know it, but her cuddling up to him like that was making it very difficult for Ed to concentrate on how angry he was at her.

"Earlier today." She answered, ignoring the muffled laughter coming from Riza. "You'll pay for it, right? Pleeeeease?"

Well, how could he refuse when she looked at him like that?

"Of course I will. I just wish you had asked me _before_ you went out and bought it." He told her. Winry grinned; he didn't seem to be angry anymore.

"I'm sorry! Thank you sooooo much, Ed!" She said, releasing him and jumping to her feet. "You won't regret it!" And with that, she bounced happily out of the room. Ed put his head in his hands.

"You put her up to this." He accused Riza. "And you know I can't say no to her. _And_ I bet that all of _that_" he gestured to the spot on the couch that Winry had recently vacated, "Was your idea." Riza smiled.

"Only two out of three; I put her up to it _and_ I know you can't say no to her. _That_, as you so delicately put it, was all her. _I_ wanted to use a gun."

"A _gun_!"

"Goodbye, Ed. And you _won't_ be sorry about the dress." She told him, and left.

* * *

"Winry!" Winry turned upon hearing her name to find Elicia Hughes running up to her.

"Elicia!" Winry exclaimed, bending down to hug the girl. "I haven't seen you in forever, it seems! How old are you now?"

"Seven!" Elicia said proudly, smiling to reveal a few missing teeth.

"Winry. You look beautiful," Gracia told her, walking up to stand next to her daughter. "I didn't know you were in Central; did you arrive with Edward and Alphonse?" Winry nodded.

"Thank you; you look beautiful also." Winry said sincerely; she had never seen Gracia this dressed up before. "We got here just a while ago. It was very sudden—Ed and Al were only in Resembool for about four days before General Mustang and Lieutenant Hawkeye arrived. I don't think Ed even knew about this." Gracia smiled.

"He wasn't supposed to know, from what I've gathered. Speaking of Edward, where is he?"

Winry had been in the large ballroom for about an hour, and still the guest of honor had not arrived. Winry had been getting complements all night, but she was still anxious for Ed and Al to see her—particularly Ed, who had paid for the dress. Suddenly, the sound of someone tapping a glass with a fork was heard, and all eyes traveled up to a raised platform—almost like a stage—where Ed and Roy were standing.

"There you are, Winry." Came a voice from behind her. It was Al, looking very handsome and dignified in a tuxedo. "Roy wants me to bring you up there," He gestured to where Roy and Ed were, "Speech time."

Winry panicked. Riza had vaguely warned her that something like this might happen—both Roy and Al would be speaking; Roy about how he had known Ed in the military, Al about Ed in general—military life and personal life—and who better than Winry, someone from Ed's purely personal life, to make the last speech? She, of course, hadn't thought to prepare a speech or anything of the sort, but she let Al lead her up the steps and onto the dais. They got there just as Roy began to speak:

"I have only known Edward for a **short** time when compared to the other speakers, but that does not mean that I think **little** of him. Inside that **small **stature lives a big heart. Hopefully. And even though he is **tiny**, let us always remember him as a big hero, who also happens to be a **midget**."

It was a while before the audience realized that he was finished and started clapping. Al had to practically sit on his brother to keep him from clobbering Roy, until Riza walked over, seized Roy by the ear, and dragged him off the dais and out of the ballroom. No one commented on the fact that he was a higher-up; no one there was stupid enough to call Riza out. Ed, at least, seemed to think that Roy would be suitably punished, and stopped trying to kill him, so that Al was free to make his speech.

Al's speech was considerably longer than Roy's, and completely devoid of short jokes. It brought most of the audience to tears; the most affected was Armstrong, who was positively _bawling_ when Al finished speaking and hugged his brother, before walking down the steps to wait at the bottom. The audience ignored the gunshots coming from outside, and looked at Winry.

She cleared her throat hesitantly; she had no idea as to what to say—she wished now that she had gone before Al. How could she follow up a speech like that? Still, she had to try. She cleared her throat again, unnecessarily, glanced at Ed, and began speaking.

"I've known Edward Elric for my entire life," She began, "And I can say honestly say that he is one of the most amazing people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing." True, he would probably make fun of her for this later, but at least she was being honest, "He's brilliant, for one thing—a prodigy. As a result of that, he's very mature for his age. That's how all of you know him. To me, though, he's a kind, sweet, and loveable boy. I grew up with him, and when he and Al left to search for the Philosopher's stone, it broke my heart to see them go.

"I knew they had to do it, but it just seemed unnatural for the three of us to be apart. Sure they visited—but only when Ed needed repairs on his automail. Never just to visit me. I understand, though, that they couldn't take the time to visit me because the military kept them busy.

"But now they've restored their bodies, and the military will be short one alchemist. Er—no pun intended." The audience snickered, and Winry glanced at Ed, but he didn't appear to have noticed. Instead of being angry, he was staring at her in a very peculiar way. Winry had never been looked at like that before, and it made her wonder what Ed could be thinking about. "So be glad you've had this wonderful man among you for the past few years, because I've been patient long enough." Her speech ended there, and the room was filled with applause and cheering. Armstrong was bawling into a tablecloth again, and Riza had stepped inside the room to listen.

Once the room had quieted down, Winry, still blushing, made her way to the steps, looking at the floor to avoid meeting anyone's gaze.

She was nearly to the steps when she ran into someone. Someone wearing a military uniform. She looked up and saw Ed. He was still looking at her in that peculiar way, and Winry squirmed slightly. He just looked at her for several long moments, and Winry looked back, searching, into his warm golden eyes, allowing herself to become completely lost in his gaze. Suddenly, a voice rang out across the nearly silent room.

"KISS HER!" It was Roy, who had walked inside to stand next to Riza.

"You IDIOT!" She said loudly, forgetting rank entirely. Winry heartily agreed with her.

As for Ed—he turned bright crimson, a clear indication of what he had been considering doing before Roy's interruption—turned, and ran down the steps and out of one of the side doors, leaving a very bewildered Winry still standing on the dais.

* * *

_Michi: I really did not like this chapter. It was sloppily tossed together, and was basically just to set the stage for chapter six, which just sets the stage for the epilogue._

_Ed: Why did you write it then? _

_Michi: Shaddap. You're just mad because of the short jokes. _

_Ed: Hell yeah I'm mad because of the short jokes. I hate you. And Mustang. _

_Michi: Anyway, chapter six will hopefully be up later this week, but you never know. Please, please, review! Your reviews inspire me to write more, and also make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! A win-win situation!_

_Ed: You're crazy. That's all there is to it. _

**Edit: Ok, I am now DONE typing out the rest of Under the Roses. So review, and I'll post the rest, mmmkay? **

**Also – for all of you who have seen the movie 'Shrek' and think that I stole Roy's speech from it; I swear that I had no idea it was similar to the movie until my beta pointed it out, and then I was too lazy to change it because it just fit so well! So sorry if it brings flashbacks, but I like his speech the way it is. **

**I posted a new story, too, called 'Cold Rain'. It's an absolute angstfest; go check it out!**


	6. Epiphany

**Disclaimer: You Oughta Know.**

Here we are—the last chapter before the epilogue. This is a nice sort of slower filler chapter, just to create some space between The Realization and The Ending, if you know what I mean. Kind of feels a bit melancholy, which is a nice change, in my opinion.

It also helps to set up for a sequel. Heh heh heh.

Ed: Oh NO.

Michi: It's not about _you_.

Ed: Thank God.

Roy: Oh NO.

* * *

**CHAPTER SIX: EPIPHANY

* * *

**

When Winry found Riza, the older woman was in the garden, and in the process of reloading her handgun. Roy was nowhere to be found, and Winry chose not to think on that too much as she sat down on the bench next to Riza.

"I don't understand—why did Ed just run off like that?" Winry asked, a hint of despair creeping into her voice, "I would have expected him to either try and kill Roy or maybe even to ignore him completely—but to just run off? It's not like him." Riza sighed.

"Well, during the train ride—when General Mustang shouted the same thing—that notion was too ridiculous to be considered—or not worth bothering over. But tonight I think that Roy—" she blushed, "I mean, General Mustang, read Edward's mind exactly.

"But—he wasn't—I mean—it was just a speech—and I—we—"

"But you didn't see the way he was looking at you while you were making your speech." Riza pointed out. "I think he may have just had an epiphany."

"About what?"

"About his feelings for you." Winry shook her head.

"That's silly. I love him like a brother—like I love Al, and he loves me the same way." She stood up before Riza could object. "I think I'm going to go back inside." Riza waited until she was back inside before turning to the hedge behind her.

"So what do you think?" Al popped up from behind the hedge, and shook his head.

"No, she still isn't convinced." He sighed. "I don't know what else we can do."

"And what about Ed?"

"I don't know. I tried talking to him, and he just told me to go away." Riza grimaced.

"I'm going to _kill_ R—General Mustang when I find him. He _ruined_ it. We were _so close._" She thought a moment, "I have an idea." She said suddenly, and Al looked at her. "Follow me, and I'll explain everything.

* * *

"Hello, Ed. Mind if I sit here?" Ed looked up, nodded sullenly, and looked down again.

Riza and Al had found the one person they were certain Ed wouldn't tell to go away—apart from Riza herself, who would have seemed too suspicious.

"Nice party, isn't it?" Gracia asked. Ed sighed.

"I wouldn't know. When I got here, they made the speeches, and I've been out here ever since."

"Why? No one takes Roy seriously when he spouts off nonsense like that." She noticed Ed's faint blush and added, "Unless, of course, it wasn't nonsense?" Ed put his head in his hands.

"Mrs. Hughes?"

"Yes, Edward?"

"Can I tell you a secret?"

"Of course." He hesitated a moment before speaking. The entire garden seemed to hold its breath.

"I think I'm in love with Winry." He confessed.

"You _think_, or you _know_?"

"I'm pretty sure about it, ma'am." She patted him on the back.

"That's wonderful, Ed." He looked up in surprise.

"Wonderful?" he said in disbelief, "How is it wonderful? I mean—I can never talk to her again!" Gracia smiled knowingly.

"Believe me, Ed, when you love someone, it's very hard to stay away. You'll be able to talk to her again." He looked at his shoes.

"No I won't."

"Yes, you will." Gracia said patiently. "Come on, let's go back inside."

"All right," He said, standing up.

_Riza was wrong,_ Gracia thought, _that wasn't hard at all.

* * *

_

"Good evening, Miss Rockbell." Winry looked up.

"Colonel Armstrong," She said in surprise, "Hello." He offered his arm wordlessly, and she accepted it, wondering what this was all about. The she spotted Ed and Gracia walking towards them. She tried to steer Armstrong away, but it was about as effective as an ant trying to steer a pitbull.

"Hello Winry, hello Colonel Armstrong." Gracia said warmly, "Nice night, isn't it?"

"Very," Armstrong said, "All the dancing, socializing, camaraderie . . ."

"It's especially uplifting to see all of the younger people having a good time." Gracia said, then brightened suddenly, "I've got an idea! Why don't Edward and Winry dance?" Armstrong nodded, and gently pushed Winry towards Ed.

"Excellent idea!" He proclaimed.

"But—" Ed began, but before he could say anything else, he found himself with a hand on Winry's waist, and the other holding hers, while her other hand rested on his shoulder. Armstrong and Gracia then proceeded top push them onto the dance floor, and left—but not before Gracia whispered to Ed, "Tell her. But if you can't seem to do it, just remember that actions speak louder than words." And she was gone.

"What do you think all that was about?" Winry asked.

"I have no idea." Ed lied, thinking quickly. He couldn't tell her yet, but he _could_ ease his way into it. "You look really beautiful tonight, by the way." She smiled at him, and his heart skipped a beat.

"Thank you. It's all thanks to you, for buying this dress for me."

"I'm really glad that I did."

"Me too." They fell silent for a while after that, just dancing, enjoying being together, and holding each other. Finally, Ed couldn't take it anymore.

"Winry, there's something that I need to tell you." She looked up at him.

"Is something wrong?" he shook his head. Was this it? Was he really going to do it? He found that he was suddenly having a hard time breathing normally. How could she make him so nervous with just an innocent glance from those big blue eyes of hers?

"No. Well—I don't know. Hopefully not." She looked concerned.

"What is it?" Ed took a deep breath—

"It—well—I—" he couldn't. "Never mind."

"No, tell me. Please?"

"It's nothing, really." He felt himself slowly turn red. What had Gracia said? _Actions speak louder than words_. But he couldn't do _that_ either. Not here; he'd never hear the end of it. Winry looked a little disappointed, but said nothing, and they lapsed into silence once more.

* * *

"_Why_ does Ed have to be so shy?" Al exclaimed. He and Riza were dancing a safe distance away from the two blushing teens. Riza shook her head.

"It doesn't seem like there's much more we can do." She said. "It's up to them now." She saw the despairing look on Al's face, and laughed. "Don't worry—it'll all work out. Once Winry wizens up, she'll have the courage to tell him, at least." Al looked skeptical.

"Let them work it out themselves? Do you think that will work?"

"Hopefully, with a little help from the music, the moonlight, and that dress, we'll see results by the end of the night." Al nodded.

"Ok," He said, "Let's see what happens." He looked around, "Hey, where's Roy?" Riza shrugged nonchalantly.

"Probably hiding somewhere." She guessed, "He's in big trouble, and he knows it."

"You know all those gunshots? Well . . .what exactly were you doing?" She grinned wickedly, and Al decided that he really was probably better off not knowing. "Never mind." He said hurriedly.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the dance floor, the song ended, and Ed, without so much as a word to Winry, left. He couldn't stand just dancing with her as though nothing was wrong, when everything was. He knew that it was rude to just walk away like that, but surely it was better than blurting out that he loved her in front of half of the military, wasn't it?

* * *

Winry watched Ed go, wondering what she could have possibly done to make him leave like that. Was he angry? No, he didn't seem angry with her. He seemed . . . frustrated, somehow.

"It's not your fault." Winry turned, and saw Roy standing behind her.

"You're lucky that Ed didn't see you," she told him. He nodded, and offered her his hand.

"May I have this dance?" he asked, and she nodded and took his hand. They danced in silence for a while before Roy spoke again. "So, what do you think about Ed?" Winry blinked; she hadn't been expecting this.

"Didn't you hear my speech?" Roy sighed.

"Yes. It was very nice and all, but you didn't tell us how you _really feel_. I bet you haven't told anyone how you _really_ feel. I just wanted you to know that you can tell _me. I _won't tell anyone." Winry raised her eyebrows.

"So says the man who shouted 'kiss her' in front of half the military." She reminded him. He shrugged.

"Well, it's not _my_ fault that he didn't take my advice the first time." He pointed out. "I was only reminding him."

"I'm surprised that you're still alive, actually." Winry said. "It's amazing that Riza didn't kill you."

"Eh, well, I'm good at dodging bullets—and she wasn't _really_ trying to kill me. If she had been, I'd be dead. Naah, she was just trying to scare me."

"And did it work?"

"Hell yeah—I'm not _that _much of an idiot. Anyway, you were just about to tell me your true feelings for Ed."

"Well—no I wasn't."

"Yes you were."

"No, I wasn't."

"Please?" Winry sighed.

"I am _not_ in love with Ed." For some reason, she got the distinct impression that this denial was what Roy had been waiting for.

"Oh, really?" he challenged, "Then why did you give him that look while you two were standing on the platform?"

"What look?"

"That 'kiss me now' look."

"WHAT?" Roy nodded.

"It's true. And what's more—don't you get butterflies in your stomach whenever he looks at you?"

"Well—"

"And don't you want to run your fingers through that silky blonde hair?" Winry had to admit to herself that that _did_ sound pretty appealing. But no way would she ever say that to Roy.

"I—"

"And that lean, muscular body—"

"I GET IT!" Winry exclaimed loudly, more out of embarrassment than anything else. "But I don't—I . . ." Suddenly Ed's face flashed in her mind. His smile. Those warm golden eyes. The way he looked at her as though they were the only ones in the room. The way he smelled. Everything about him. Roy noticed the look on her face, and smiled, and gave her a nod.

"You see?" Winry nodded, hung her head, and gasped. "Your leg is bleeding!" She exclaimed. Roy looked down.

"Oh that? Nothing, just a graze. Anyway, what were you going to say?"

"But—don't you need to get that bandaged up?" The floor they were dancing on was slightly smeared with blood.

"Stop trying to change the subject. The longer you hesitate, the more likely I am to die of blood loss."

"All right." Winry snapped. "I'm in love with Ed. But—but he won't even look at me anymore." The dance had stopped by now, and they were just standing there. Roy reached forward and patted Winry on the shoulder.

"Don't worry—I have the utmost confidence that everything will turn out fine." She looked up, and he bowed. "Not if you'll excuse me, I need to go find some bandages." And with that, he turned and walked off.

Winry left also, and went outside to the gardens, where she spent the rest of the evening wondering if anything would be the same as before, when life was simple.

* * *

The train ride back to Resembool was quiet, despite the fact that Roy and Riza were going back with them—for a 'holiday' they claimed, but Winry suspected it was really just to see what would happen. Riza had forgiven Roy after Winry had told the other woman about how comforting he had been.

She and Ed had barely spoken at all since the farewell party, In Winry's mind, this whole being-in-love business was far more trouble than it was worth. At this point, she would gladly trade all of her warm and fuzzy feelings for simple friendship.

* * *

"Al?"

"Yes, Big brother?"

"You were right." Ed and Al were alone in a compartment. Winry was somewhere with Riza, and Ed really didn't care where Roy was.

"About what?"

"Winry." As expected, Al's face lit up.

"Really?"

"Mmm-hmm."

"You love her, or she loves you, or both?" Al asked eagerly. Ed winced a little at that; Winry didn't love him, of course. She never would.

"The first part." Al's face fell a little.

"Are you going to tell her, then?" Ed jumped slightly.

"NO! And you're not going to tell her, either! Not her, or Mustang, or Hawkeye, or Den, or _anyone_. Ok?"

"But—"

"No."

"She needs to know." Ed looked at him.

"She's better off not knowing." He said, "We both were."

Perhaps it was the pain in his brother's eyes the convinced him, or perhaps he simply realized that love was not something to be trifled with, but, at that moment, Al was thoroughly sorry that he had ever interfered.

* * *

"Winry? Winry?" Winry snapped back to reality, and looked at Riza.

"I'm sorry." She said, "I've been kind of out of it for the past few days. I don't really know why . . ."

"I do." Roy said. "Broken heart. You'll get over it." Riza grabbed a pawn from the game of chess she and Roy were playing and threw it at him.

"May I have a work with you, _Sir_?" She asked, through clenched teeth. Roy grinned.

"What's the magic word?"

_Cha-chak. _

"Ok, ok, just put the gun down!" He said, standing up quickly. They walked into a separate compartment, leaving Winry alone momentarily.

In reality, it wasn't so much a compartment as a broom closet, as they soon discovered, and there was barely enough room for them both to squeeze in. They managed it, however, and Riza shut the door firmly.

"This is getting ridiculous." She snapped. Roy slid an arm around her waist.

"If you can feel that you cannot hide your feelings of lust for me any monger," He said, "I completely understand." She removed his hand with a look of disgust.

"I meant Winry and Ed." She explained, fighting the urge to just shoot him in the face and be done with it. "It's horrible to watch." Roy smiled.

"Ah, tangled teenage love lives." Riza shook her head sadly.

"They're a bit past that stage, aren't they?" She said, "And you and I both know that it's not going to go away anytime soon." Roy, in a rare flash of seriousness, nodded.

"I know that as well as you do," He said, "But at this point, it's up to them. It either happens, or it doesn't. Either way, we'll just have to wait and see." Riza raised an eyebrow at him.

"I thought you hated waiting for anything?" She asked. He shrugged.

"Sometimes the best things in life are worth waiting for." He said softly. She didn't entirely like the look he gave her as he said it, and was sure to exit the broom closet as soon as possible.

* * *

As the train worked its way steadily towards Resembool, Winry made a decision. She _had_ to say something, or she would go insane—that was all there was to it. If Ed never wanted to see her again, well then there was not much she could do. And if Ed loved her as well . . .

She pushed the thought from her mind.

_You're fooling yourself,_ she thought, _Somehow he must know, and that's why he's avoiding you._ Yes, that was definitely more likely than anything else.

* * *

_Ed: What a depressing chapter. . ._

_Michi: Shut up, emo boy. Another late night, folks. 12:35, and I'm still planning on writing the epilogue. Gaaah, my poor fingers . . ._

_Al: I can't wait to find out what happens!_

Review, por favor! Reviews make Michi a happy spazzbasket!


	7. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: If I owned FMA, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction. No, I lie; I probably still would be. Because I'm weird like that. Also I'm tired.**

AND IT ALL ENDS HERE!

All the drama comes to an end in the final part of 'Under the Roses'. What will happen? Read on to find out!

But first….

I dedicate this final installment to several people: Mi amiga Ashley, who practically yanked the story out of me to begin with (and threatened to lock me in a basement whenever I considered giving up), My vunderbar beta reader and bestest pally Char, EVERYONE who reviewed; you lot make me feel loved, AngolMoaChan, for drawing fanart for me (the link's at the end of the chappie!), and to my poor abused floppy disk, who never gave up on me.

Sorry it's so short - there just wasn't all that much to finish. And I wrote this chapter in about forty-five minutes during chemistry one day.

* * *

EPILOGUE: UNDER THE ROSES

* * *

Winry sighed as she finished unpacking the last of the clothing she had brought to Central. The green dress was lying at the bottom of the bag still. She had offered to return it, but Ed had refused, telling her to keep it. She appreciated it, but she really had no idea what to do with it now that she had it home.

In the end, she decided to just leave it there, and walked over to the window. It was getting late; the sun would be setting in an hour or so. Winry sighed again, walked out of her room, and down the stairs. She would take a walk, to clear her head.

* * *

She was walking along the streets of the town idly when out of the store in front of her walked the person Winry least expected to see.

Scarlett winced when she saw Winry, and walked quickly the other way. Winry suddenly felt a wave of guilt, and ran until she caught up.

"I'm sorry I threw Al's watch at you!" She blurted out. "I shouldn't have—you weren't doing anything wrong." Scarlett stopped walking, and smiled at Winry.

"I don't blame you—I would have done the same thing. Jealousy does strange things to people. What happened with him, by the way? Did you two ever even notice that you were standing under the roses?" Winry nodded.

"Yes." Scarlett raised her eyebrows.

" . . .and . . .?" She prompted.

"Nothing happened. Nothing's _been_ happening, and ever since that _stupid_ speech he won't so much as look at me!" Winry exclaimed, giving in to tears of frustration. Scarlett put a comforting arm around her and led her to a bench in the park, which was right across the street. They sat down, and Scarlett handed Winry a handkerchief to dry her eyes with.

"Why don't you tell me about it?"

"It's a long story."

"I've got time."

And so Winry found herself pouring her heart out to a girl she didn't really know. Scarlett listened attentively the entire time, and thu**s** Winry was compelled to tell her everything.

"Thank you so much for listening," She told Scarlett when her story was over. "It's so nice to be able to talk to someone who isn't conspiring with Al." Scarlett bit her lip.

"About that . . . I have a confession to make."

"What is it?"

"Well . . . all of the stuff that happened at the carnival? Al asked me to do it. Believe me, I never would have taken Ed from you otherwise." Winry was shocked.

"Al . . . asked you to?" She repeated, and Scarlett nodded. Winry jumped to her feet. "That meddling little—"

"Hey," Scarlett interjected, "he was just trying to give you two a push in the right direction. A push that you badly needed, in my opinion."

"It didn't make a difference." Winry said miserably. "Nothing did."

"No, it didn't." Scarlett said bluntly, 'And I hope you include yourself in that statement as well." Winry looked up.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that if you want something, you can't just sit around and wait for it. _You _have to do something about it."

"Like what?" Winry asked, "There _is_ no . . ." Then she spotted the gazebo.

The flowers from the last night of the carnival were still there, draped over the roof. No one had removed them because they only added to the park's beauty. She jumped to her feet and ran off towards the gazebo. Scarlett, after a while, followed.

_Where is it . . ._? Winry thought, when she got to the gazebo. _Aha!_ She looked up, and saw them—the flowers she and Ed had stood under a week or so ago. Scarlett ran up beside her, and immediately realized what Winry's plan must be.

"Great idea," She told Winry, "But how on earth are you going to get them down?"

* * *

"ED!" Ed looked up from the book he was reading upon hearing his name. The front door slammed, and Ed heard the sound of stomping on the stairway. Moments later, Winry appeared in the doorway. Was it just him, or did she look slightly green, as though she was nervous about something? She smiled faintly when she saw him.

"There you are!" She exclaimed, walking over. Ed marked his place in the book, and put it down.

"What do you want?" he asked, and she turned a shade greener.

"I just—" she took a deep breath, "I have something to show you."

"Will this take long?" He asked. He couldn't stand to be around her for very long—it hurt too much. She paled, but attempted a weak smile.

"No . . ." she said, "Come with me." And without another word, she grabbed his hand and pulled him out of his chair and out the door.

Winry was so nervous she was having trouble breathing properly. She hoped that her hand wasn't sweaty, or that if it was, Ed didn't notice.

She was at least positive that no one else would be around. Pinako knew, and was in her workshop. Scarlett had gone to the park with Al and Ginger, the cat that George had left. Winry had called Riza and practically begged her to keep Roy away by whatever means possible. Riza ha agreed, and so, unless Den wandered over, they would be completely alone.

They walked outside to the large tree where Winry had confronted Ed about the note he had given her on his first day back in Resembool. Winry led him right up to the tree, so that they stood by the trunk and under most of the branches. Rather than letting go of his hand, she took his other one as well, and stood facing him. He looked puzzled, and caught sight of the bouquet of roses that she had hung overhead.

"Winry, what—" She let go of one of his hands and pressed two fingers to his lips to silence him.

"I want another chance." She said, by way of explanation, "I'm sorry, but I just can't keep quiet about this any more." She paused, tried to read his expression, and failed. "Ed, I—I love you." He tried to say something, and she put her hand over his mouth, "Just let me finish before you tell me you never want to see me again." He made a sort of strangled sound, "I just wanted to tell you that I really, truly love you.**"** She grinned, "It feels so good to just say it. I love you, Ed." She looked down, "But I understand if you don't feel the same way."

"Winry?" His voice was slightly muffled.

"Yes?"

"Would you move your hand, please?"

"I'm sorry; I forgot it was there." She said, and removed it. Instead of leaving, or explaining that he didn't love her, however, he placed a hand beneath her chin and tilted her head up so that she was looking at him. She didn't see much, however, before he leaned in and kissed her.

Winry had been very wrong when she had classified what had happened with George as a kiss. That was most definitely _not_ a kiss—_this_ was a kiss. And how on earth had Ed gotten so _good _at it?

When they finally broke apart, Winry's hands were tangled in Ed's hair, and his arms were tightly wrapped around her.

"I guess it goes without saying that I love you too." Ed said softly, Winry giggled.

"I take it that you noticed what we're standing under?"

"The same roses as the ones at the carnival?" Winry nodded.

"The same ones." Ed smiled, and kissed her on the forehead.

"I love you, Winry." He said again, and she smiled.

"I love you, too." She told him, before pulling away and grabbing his hand. "Come on—Al will be very upset if he isn't the first to know about this." Ed grinned back, and they began walking down the path that led to the park.

_Fin

* * *

_

_Michi: So you see, all's well that ends well! _

_Ed: Well . . . that was . . ._

_Michi: CAN'T FIND ANYTHING TO CRITICIZE, CAN YOU?_

_Ed: I DIDN'T **SAY **THAT! _

_Al: I can't believe you didn't put me in the epilogue!_

_Michi: I know you, and I wasn't about to take that chance. Anyway, it's 1:30 in the morning, so time for some sleep. Review, por favor! And don't worry- It's not all over; sequel, anyone?_

* * *

LINKS:

Are not up yet. If you'll excuse me I'm going to go commit very messy suicide all over my keyboard. Gah.

They'll go up eventually! I promise!


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